Religious Langua

i
Frantz Fanon: Dualism and Colonialism

South Africa as a Case Study
‫ اﻻزدواﺟﯿﺔ واﻻﺳﺘﻌﻤﺎر‬:‫ﻓﺮاﻧﺘﺲ ﻓﺎﻧﻮن‬

‫ﺟﻨﻮب اﻓﺮﯾﻘﯿﺎ ﻛﺤﺎﻟﺔ دراﺳﯿﺔ‬
Ghada Samman
Student number: 1005092
Supervisor: Dr. Roger Heacock
Readers:
Dr. Samir Awad Dr. George Giacaman
This thesis was submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the Masters degree in International
Studies from The Faculty of Graduate Studies at Birzeit
University- Palestine.
ii
Presented by:
Ghada Samman
Frantz Fanon: Dualism and Colonialism

South Africa as a Case Study
Date: 24-05-2006
Dr. Roger Heacock
---------------------------------
Dr. Samir Awad Dr. George Giacaman
------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------
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“ Oh my body, make of me a man who always questions.”
Frantz Fanon
iv
To The Wretched of the Earth
To those who struggle for change and Freedom
To the Palestinian People

v
Contents
Preface …………………………………………….. viii
Introduction ………………………………………… 1
Part 1: Fanon’s Ideas and Concepts

Chapter 1
Biographical sketch ………………………….. 6
Chapter 2
The Wretched of the Earth ………………………… 13
Chapter 3
Black Skin, White Masks ..……………………….. 48
Part2: Fanon and Dualism

Abstract 72
Chapter 4
Dualism and Alienation …………………………… 79
Chapter 5
Dualism and Value System ……………………. 85
Chapter 6
Dualism and Classes ……………………. 91
Chapter 7
Dualism and Revolution ……………………………. 126
Part3: South Africa

Chapter 8
History of South Africa …………………………… 144
Chapter 9
Apartheid System ………………………………….. 174
Chapter 10
The African National Congress (ANC) …………. 197
Conclusion …………………………………… 235
Annexes………………………………………………..
South Africa
Apartheid System
Freedom Charter
Violence in South Africa
References …………………………………………. 237

Selected References ………………………………………. 244
vi
Abstract
This thesis tries to bring to the surface the importance of the philosopher, socialist and
psychiatrist Frantz Fanon. Fanon, through his brilliance, study, and experience,
provides humanity with powerful ideas which analyze colonialism and its effect on
the Third World, as he describes the society and how it functions internally, and also
as he describes the behavior of the Third World nations.
Colonialism is an expression that describes the relationship between Europe and the
Third World. Europe, despite its marvels, established a colonial pattern. Colonialism
expresses the contradiction in the world, the division and the alienation of this world.
This study deals with the divisions inherent to the third world in its vulnerability and
proposes a new concept, dualism.
Fanon, as he gives an international vision about the relation between Europe and the
Third World, describes the mechanism of the classes’ and groups’ behavior inside the
nation, and also the liberation movements that were formed to end colonialism, as
well as the various groups that play a role in structuring the society.
In addition, he explains the role of violence and revolution and their importance in
making a change. So Fanon aimed to call for a radical change so as to help “The
Wretched of the Earth” as he called his book.
To assist our in-depth understanding to Fanon, South Africa is shown as a case study.
It played and is still playing a crucial role in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the
people of South Africa are still living on the same land with the colonizer.
I have concentrated on the behavior of the political party and also the way it behaved
with international ideas and concepts. The aim of this case study is to provide in-
depth study and criticism of Fanon’ vision. In addition, I wish to show the
applicability of Fanon’s ideas.
‫‪vii‬‬
‫اﻟﻤﻠﺨﺺ‪:‬‬
‫ﺗﮭﺪف ھﺬه اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ اﻟﻰ اﺑﺮاز أھﻤﯿﺔ اﻟﻔﯿﻠﺴﻮف واﻟﻤﻔﻜﺮ و اﻟﺪﻛﺘﻮر اﻟﻨﻔﺴﻲ ﻓﺮاﻧﺘﺲ ﻓﺎﻧﻮن‪ .‬ﻓﺎﻧﻮن ﺑﻌﺒﻘﺮﯾﺘﮫ‬
‫ودراﺳﺘﮫ وﺗﺠﺮﺑﺘﮫ أﻋﻄﻰ ﻓﻜﺮ ﺟﺪﯾﺪ وراﺋﻊ ﻟﻼﻧﺴﺎﻧﯿﺔ‪ .‬أﻓﻜﺎر وآراء ﻓﺎﻧﻮن ﺗﺤﻠﻞ اﻻﺳﺘﻌﻤﺎر وﻣﺪى ﺗﻐﻠﻐﻠﮫ وﺗﺄﺛﯿﺮه‬
‫ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ وذﻟﻚ ﻣﻦ ﺧﻼل رؤﯾﺘﮫ ﻟﻜﯿﻔﺔ اﻟﻨﺴﻖ اﻟﺪاﺧﻠﻲ ﻟﻠﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ‪ ،‬ﻓﮭﻮ ﯾﺤﺎول أن ﯾﺼﻒ ﺳﻠﻮك دول اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ‬
‫اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ‪.‬‬
‫اﻻﺳﺘﻌﻤﺎر‪ ،‬ھﻮ ﻣﺼﻄﻠﺢ ﯾﻌﺒﺮﻋﻦ اﻟﻌﻼﻗﺔ ﻣﺎ ﺑﯿﻦ أوروﺑﺎ واﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ‪ ،‬أوروﺑﺎ ذﻟﻚ اﻟﻨﻤﻮذج اﻟﺮاﺋﻊ ‪ ،‬وﻟﻜﻦ‬
‫ﺑﺎﻟﻤﻘﺎﺑﻞ ذﻟﻚ اﻟﻨﻤﻮذج اﻻﺳﺘﻌﻤﺎري‪ .‬اﻻﺳﺘﻌﻤﺎر ﯾﻌﺒﺮ ﻋﻦ اﻟﺘﻨﺎﻗﺾ اﻟﻤﻮﺟﻮد ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ ‪ ،‬ﻓﮭﻮ ﯾﻌﺒﺮ ﻋﻦ اﻧﻘﺴﺎم‬
‫وﻏﺮﺑﺔ ھﺬا اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ‪ .‬ھﺬه اﻷﻃﺮوﺣﺔ ﺗﺘﻌﺎﻣﻞ ﻣﻊ ھﺬا اﻻﻧﻘﺴﺎم اﻟﻤﺘﺠﺬر ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ وﺗﻄﺮح ﻣﻔﮭﻮم ﺟﺪﯾﺪ ﻟﺬﻟﻚ‬
‫وھﻮ اﻻزدواﺟﯿﺔ‪.‬‬
‫ﻓﺎﻧﻮن ﯾﻌﻄﻲ رؤﯾﺎ وﺑﻌﺪ دوﻟﻲ ﻟﻠﻌﻼﻗﺔ ﻣﺎ ﺑﯿﻦ أوروﺑﺎ واﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ ﻓﮭﻮ ﯾﺼﻒ ﻃﺮﯾﻘﺔ ﻋﻤﻞ وﻣﯿﻜﺎﻧﯿﻜﯿﺔ ﺳﻠﻮك‬
‫اﻟﻄﺒﻘﺎت‪ ،‬اﻟﺠﻤﺎﻋﺎت وﺣﺮﻛﺎت اﻟﺘﺤﺮر اﻟﺘﻲ أوﺟﺪت ﻧﻔﺴﮭﺎ ﻻﻧﮭﺎء اﻻﺳﺘﻌﻤﺎر‪ ،‬ﺑﺎﻻﺿﺎﻓﺔ اﻟﻰ ﻛﺎﻓﺔ اﻟﻔﺌﺎت اﻟﻤﺨﺘﻠﻔﺔ‬
‫اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﻠﻌﺐ دور ﻓﻲ ﺗﺸﻜﯿﻞ ﺑﻨﯿﺔ اﻟﺪوﻟﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻢ اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ‪.‬‬
‫أﯾﻀﺎ ‪ ،‬ﯾﺼﻒ ﻓﺎﻧﻮن دور اﻟﻌﻨﻒ واﻟﺜﻮرة‪ ,‬واھﻤﯿﺘﮭﻢ وﺿﺮورﺗﮭﻢ ﻣﻦ أﺟﻞ اﺣﺪاث ﺗﻐﯿﺮ ﻓﮭﻮ ﯾﮭﺪف اﻟﻰ ﺗﻐﯿﺮ ﻋﻤﯿﻖ‬
‫وﺟﺬري ﻣﻦ أﺟﻞ اﻟﻌﺪاﻟﺔ ﻟﻤﻌﺬﺑﻮا اﻷرض‪ ،‬وھﻮ اﺳﻢ ﻛﺘﺎﺑﮫ اﻷﺧﯿﺮ‪.‬‬
‫ﻣﻦ أﺟﻞ ﺗﻌﻤﯿﻖ ﻓﮭﻤﻨﺎ ورؤﯾﺘﺎ ﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔ ﻓﺎﻧﻮن ‪ ،‬ﺗﻢ دراﺳﺔ دوﻟﺔ ﺟﻨﻮب اﻓﺮﯾﻘﯿﺎ ﻛﺤﺎﻟﺔ دراﺳﯿﺔ ﻓﮭﻲ ﺗﻠﻌﺐ دور ﺟﻮھﺮي‬
‫وﻓﻌﺎل ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺴﺘﻮى أﻓﺮﯾﻘﯿﺎ ﺟﻨﻮب اﻟﺼﺤﺮاء ‪ ،‬ﺑﺎﻻﺿﺎﻓﺔ اﻟﻰ أن أھﻞ ﺟﻨﻮب اﻓﺮﯾﻘﺎ ﻣﺎ زاﻟﻮا ﯾﻌﯿﺸﻮن ھﻢ‬
‫واﻟﻤﺴﺘﻌﻤﺮ ﻋﻠﻰ أرض واﺣﺪة‪.‬‬
‫ﺗﻢ اﻟﺘﺮﻛﯿﺰ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺳﻠﻮك اﻟﺤﺰب اﻟﺴﯿﺎﺳﻲ اﻟﻤﺴﯿﻄﺮ‪ ،‬وﺧﺼﻮﺻﺎ ﻓﻲ اﻃﺎر ﺗﻐﯿﺮ اﻟﻤﻔﺎھﯿﻢ واﻟﻤﺼﻄﻠﺤﺎت اﻟﺪوﻟﯿﺔ‪.‬‬
‫اﻟﮭﺪف ﻣﻦ اﻟﺤﺎﻟﺔ اﻟﺪراﺳﯿﺔ ھﻮ ﺗﻌﻤﯿﻖ وﻧﻘﺪ رؤﯾﺔ ﻓﺎﻧﻮن‪ ،‬وأﯾﻀﺎ ﺗﻘﯿﯿﻢ ﻣﺪى ﺗﻄﺒﯿﻘﯿﺔ أﻓﻜﺎره وﻣﻔﺎھﯿﻤﮫ‪.‬‬
‫‪Preface:‬‬
‫‪Frantz Fanon is a name associated with freedom, justice and humanity. Shortly before‬‬
‫‪his death he wrote The Wretched of the Earth, calling for more humane world.‬‬
‫‪Writing with all his passion and love for the weak and the oppressed, Fanon seeks a‬‬
‫‪new pattern of man – a man who is not penetrated by inhuman systems, who can build‬‬
‫‪natural relations between himself and his family, society, and world. He wants‬‬
‫‪nothing less than to create a new humanity.‬‬
viii
Frantz Fanon is a bold theorist, a visionary and an idealist whose powerful and
compelling concepts are intended to protect and emancipate the weak. He is
revolutionary--revolutionary in its pure meaning--and the sheer honesty of his work
provides its power.
Fanon opened the door to many studies related to colonized societies: topics such as
myth making, society, classes, and philosophy of struggle. He touched the core of the
Third World and provided a comprehensive perspective on the individual and the
world, which gave strength to his proposals.
Although there is some confusion regarding the meaning of the terminologies in his
books, and also criticism of his ideas, further studies may adjust or develop his
proposal, and I hope the present work will be one, which achieves that.
As a socio-political study, this thesis intends to reveal particular aspects of Fanon’s

ideas, and to go in-depth by analyzing South Africa’s experience as a case study.
Ghada Samman
ix
Frantz Fanon (1925-1961)
0
Part 1
Frantz Fanon
Part 2
Dualism and Alienation

Part 3
South Africa
Annex
1. South Africa
2. Apartheid system (map)
3. Picture (Sowyto and Johannesburg)
4. The Freedom Charter
5. Violence in South Africa

Introduction 1
Introduction:
“ Not so very long ago, the earth numbered two thousand million inhabitants: five
hundred million men, and one thousand five hundred million natives. The former had
the word: the others had the use of it. Between the two there were hired kinglets,
overlords and a bourgeoisie, sham from beginning to end, which served as go-
betweens. In the colonies the truth stood naked, but the citizens of the mother-country
preferred it with clothes on: the native had to love them, something in the way
mothers are loved.” (Fanon 1963, p7)
This first paragraph of Fanon’s book the Wretched of The Earth is from the
introduction by Jean Paul Sartre. The first paragraph attracted me as it explains the
extreme contradictions and inequalities in the world, and as Sartre describes the truth
of the colonies in which the majority had the word and the others had the use of it.
I continued to read the introduction, and I decided to get in depth that specific book,
because actually colonialism did not end and it developed into a new phase, the neo-
colonialism phase, which was more severe as the technology facilitated the control of
the Third World through the economic and cultural penetration, in which there was no
need for military solutions.
Frantz Fanon said before his death that man should be a slave of cause, the cause of
people, justice and liberty, otherwise man is nothing on earth. And actually Fanon was
a slave for the cause of justice as he tried to call for help and justice for the weak and
poor people in the Third World. His experience, work, and writings prove his
humanity, sympathy and justice toward the weak and on the other hand his anger,
violence and hate toward those who exploit and humiliate them. Because of that there
are different views of Fanon: some called him “the apostle of violence,” and others
called him the “Marx of the Third World,” for as Marx’s called philosophy for the
justice of labor, Fanon called for the justice of the Third World. But I think Marx is
Marx and Fanon is Fanon.
Fanon was born in a French colony exposed to racism, between the black and white.
Then he volunteered to serve in the Second World War. After that he studied
psychiatry. After finishing his studies he worked in Algeria as a doctor. He was much
Introduction 2
affected by the situation of Algeria and the injustice of the colonial system that
existed in it. He adopted it as his homeland and worked For the Algerian cause.
His mentality’s structure was crystallized according to his upbringing, knowledge,

study, and experience: he was from a bourgeois family that assimilated the French
culture, and his good relation to his mother was also a crucial factor in building
Fanon’s mentality. His psychological studies and his reading of many thinkers like
Marx, Hegel, Sartre affected him deeply, as did his experience of living in a racist
system, his experience in the army, his experience in the university as a black student,
and his experience in Algeria. Of course his genius, gentility, and personality and his
life circumstances helped in creating this structure of Fanon.
Fanon describes colonialism as he discussed the relation between Europe and the
Third World. However, Europe reached wonderful concepts of man and of humanity
and of justice, with great effect on other people. What Europe had reached was not the
result of a controversial discussion, but rather through very hard and severe
experience, its own experience and also its experience with the Third World through
colonialism, at the end it was the result of praxis. Its own experience was structured in
the two World Wars, in which there was much hard and severe destruction and
violence. Also this experience was such that everyone was affected by it severely, the
entire European world. What Fanon tried to show is the second thing regarding the
relation between Europe and the Third World as he aimed to analyze it in relation to
Europe but not to describe the relation of Europe to the Third World. Europe had
reached a wonderful pattern; but on the other hand it divided the world as one lives at
the expense of the other.
This long and deep colonialism created a pattern – a pattern of a nation, a pattern of
mentality of the Third World which made it unable to think, work or function except
within the colonial framework, and this is what Fanon tried to point out in the
interests of emancipation. He aimed to see Europe as it is, not to denigrate it and not
to rebuke it, simply to see Europe as it is.
Introduction 3
This world consists of systems that structure it. The underdeveloped country is not
specified as one nation but rather all the Third World. Fanon also does not confine
racial issues to South Africa, or East-West relations to only two countries. He is
talking about systems and structures that govern the world. He discussed colonialism,
and now we are still living in a colonial world, for although the names and techniques
differed, the concepts remained the same. Fanon’s analysis of the Third World and its
relations to colonialism depicts a divided world, an alienated world, a divided nation,
an alienated country, a divided individual, an alienated individual. This is the truth of
colonialism, as Fanon argues that it is a Manichean world.
The study proposes the adoption of a new concept, dualism, which the author has
distilled from Fanon’s thinking about Algeria. It proceeds to raise the empirical data
to a theoretically compelling level (the operation of dualism), combining social,
political and psychological elements, and applicable historically and today to the
South African case.
This work proposes to show that division as much as to show and analyze Frantz
Fanon. Fanon aimed to create consciousness and to emancipate the mentality of the
colonized from the colonial effects. This emancipation means that the colonizer will
be unable to control the colonized’s mentality. Fanon criticized the intellectual who
could not emancipate, who were within the sphere of the colonizer, assimilated and
mentally controlled by it. This world is governed by very small minority who impose
their philosophy and concepts among the world. This minority, which may not exceed
1-2% of the whole population, plays with the destiny of the remaining people. We
see a small world but unconscious, a world sealed in its false consciousness, which
resulted in creating a more divided and blurred world.
I hope this study will reveal in depth some aspects of Fanon’s concepts. The first part
shows how the world is divided, trying to explain and verifying this division from
Fanon’s perspective. This division can be destroyed through a dialectic process: first
of self-defended, stimulating and rebuilding, and second through the confrontation
and facing of the other. The colonized and the colonizer are interrelated; one cannot
be understood without understanding the other. One created definitions and concepts
and imposed them on the other. It was imposed from a vertical psychological division
Introduction 4
in which the colonizer is superior to the colonized, and on the other hand from a
horizontal division as they lived and interacted with each other.
Fanon is much criticized for his ideas about violence. However, he tried to call for
entering the dialectic process of colonialism regardless of the loss and severity that
may result from this experience. Sometimes the ideas of Fanon appear to be
contradictory as he reconciles his ideas of humanism and freedom to violence. This is
due the contradictions that exist in the world. For example in this neo-colonialism
phase, the income of an international company may exceed the income of a whole
nation. Or, for example in South Africa, a person may take a salary per month that is
equal to the salary of another person per day for the same work. Also these
contradictions may be structured as a small minority in the Third World nations
imposes its philosophy on the majority, as Fanon describes the role of the bourgeoisie.
It may occur that all the world is governed by very small minorities, which negates
the ideas and concepts that the world calls for: democracy and freedom. Also these
contradictions were created by violence; colonialism is a violent system and all the
results of colonialism tends to be violent, being extensions of colonialism. All these
ideas mentioned will be discussed in Part One.
Part two talks about the Manichean world and the cause of that division by defining
the concept of dualism, which describes the penetration of the Third World. Also it
talks about the classes, how Fanon views the dynamics of class function and how the
colonizer imposes its control over the colonized. In addition it explains the destruction
of the society through the collapse of the value system.
Fanon is considered a revolutionary thinker, as he called for revolution to change the

world structure. This also will be discussed in Part Two to show how Fanon views
and analyzes revolution. Fanon is much criticized because he wants to change the
world violently. He justifies that, that the existing reality would never have existed if
it was not imposed by a concentrated and severe violence. Fanon tried to explain the
phases and the development of getting into the dialectic process through revolution he
explained various aspects and as he interrelated them to each other.
Introduction 5
In Part Three, the experience of South aimed to show the applicability and also to
show the critiques of Fanon. South Africa is considered a good example because
colonialism was rooted deeply in it. Also it was exposed to a deep and severe racist
system, and may serve as a sample of that structure of the relation between the
colonizer and the colonized in the world. Also South Africa shows the development of
the colonized and the colonizer within an international perspective.
This part is divided into three sections. The first shows how colonialism started and
developed in South Africa, then how colonialism created a dual society. Third it
shows the reaction of the colonized and the way they dealt with colonialism and also
shows the failure of the liberation movement of South Africa in relation to Fanon.
It should be noted that each country has its own features, its own structure and
history, so when Fanon is applied, there should be an elasticity first in understanding
the structure and the philosophy of the nation, and then after that in understanding
Fanon and trying to analyze it according to Fanon, but not to apply Fanon rigidly to
the case, because we aim to benefit from Fanon and not to impose Fanon.
Despite Fanon’s limitations, he provides a wide knowledge of various fields and the
way they intersect with each other: culture, politics, economics, and social matters.
Fanon dealt with all these matters from a national perspective and on the other hand
from an international perspective.
This study aims to apply the ideas of Fanon to new circumstances and conditions so
as to fit the new world structures that are based on the same concepts of colonialism.
This work is a socio-political study. It aims to examine the idea of alienation and
division as using a wider term that describes them, and redefine them under the term
“dualism”.
I hope this study will give a different perspective about Fanon, and also add to our in-
depth understanding of Fanon.
----------------------------------------------
Introduction 6
Part1 / Frantz Fanon 6
Chapter 1
Frantz Fanon1 - Biographical Sketch 2
Family:
Fanon was born on July 1925 into a middle-class black family in Martinique, a
French colonial island. The Martinique and the Gaudline form the Antilles, and
the Fort-de France was the capital in which Fanon was born. Its people preferred
to be assimilated by the French and to adopt French values and culture rather
than to have their own independent nation.
The island was ruled by a very small white minority that controlled it politically
and economically and which had a superior and racist attitude toward the blacks.
The whites’ number was estimated at 1000 in an island with a population

of 300,000. This affluent white aristocracy also had the whole colonial
machine on its side. The majority of the population was, in contrast,
extremely poor. The black bourgeoisie to which the Fanon family
belonged was therefore situated between a wealthy, powerful white
minority and a poor, powerless black majority. Concomitant with the
colonial social structure was also a hierarchy of values, assigning beauty
and virtue according to class and color. (Bulhan 1985, p24)
So in Martinique, the system was a racist system that dealt with blacks in a
superior manner, as will be explained later in Black Skin, White Mask book
review. The island was managed by metropolitan France, which imposed the
French culture in all aspects of life. Fanon was taught everything French:
language, culture, history, songs, values and literature. Fanon’s family was
relatively well off financially and had privileges which other black families
1
Most of the information about Fanon’s life is taken from Bulhan’s book: “Frantz Fanon and
the Psychology of Oppression”
2
Two authors: Peter Geismar (1969) and Irene Gendzeier (1973) wrote about Fanon’s life.
Their writings are rather contradictory, especially as they describe the relationship between
Fanon and his mother. Bulhan analyses this deeply in the first chapter of his book “Frantz
Fanon and the Psychology of Oppression”.
usually did not have. Frantz was the fourth child among his eight brothers and
sisters, and the youngest among his brothers Joby, Felix and Willy.
Fanon’s mother was a shopkeeper, “a mild-mannered, heavy-set woman who

likes to smile.” (Geismar 1969, p8). She was faithful to her family and did her
best to educate them and to provide a good life for them. She loved and cared
for Frantz most of all, and he also was much attached to her. Later she was very
proud of his revolutionary thought and writings. Fanon ‘s father was a customs
inspector and was a traditional father who exerted patriarchal authority. He was
a responsible person who tried to fulfill his family’s needs. It seems that his
relation to Fanon was distant and cool. The elder Fanon died in 1947.
Life Experience:
An early formative experience for Fanon, though somewhat mitigated by his

youth, was his acquaintance with the Vichy regime which came to power when
he was fifteen years old. In 1940 French sailors came from France, behaved
badly toward the people, and exerted a racist influence everywhere they went.
With the war and the fall of France, there suddenly arrived ten thousand
refugees, mainly sailors, in Fort-de-France. These men lived in exile for
four years, inactive, closed in on themselves: they became authentically
racist. The blacks had no choice but to defend themselves. When
previously Aime Cesaire had declared “How good and beautiful it is to be
black,” he had caused a scandal, a shock to the collective unconscious.
(Caute 1970, p9)
Fanon was disturbed by the sailors’ behavior because it contradicted what he

had been taught. But the people in Fort-de-France were not affected so much by
this because they did not trust the Vichy regime and regarded it as related to the
Germans and not to the French.
The French Army:
Fanon volunteered for the French army in 1944 and was posted to North Africa.
He believed honestly and deeply in the meaning of freedom, liberty, and justice,
but after he became involved with the army he was astonished by the racism that
the French exerted. The most undesirable duty posts were given to the blacks,
with poor hospitality and supplies for living in comparison with the whites.
Racism in the army, however, was not a simple black-white affair. It was
more complex than that. Generally, all whites looked down on nonwhites
as social inferiors. Among the nonwhites there are also were distinctions:
like the whites, the Arabs routinely looked down on all blacks and blacks
from the Caribbean looked down on blacks from Africa, and among the
Africans, the blacks from Senegal looked down on blacks from other
areas of Africa. It was a pyramid of status based on the colored one’s
perceived nearness to the white man. (Hansen 1977, p25)
Fanon ‘s experience in the war affected him deeply, and developed his
consciousness toward French racism and philosophy. In the army,
Fanon grew up in the company of two important catalysts: Mosole,
with knowledge of racism and exploitation, and Manville, with his
emphasis on the need for action on behalf of the helpless. Fanon was to
embody in him a fusion of these two: thought and action. (Ibid., p23)
So both of his friends affected and deepened his vision in that experience. He
thought that through his education, knowledge, activity, and faithfulness he
would overcome his color, but then he discovered that whatever he did, in the
end he was black.
Education:
Fanon gained a scholarship to study medicine in Paris. He stayed about three
weeks and then went to Lyon, explaining that there were “too many niggers,”
meaning that there were many blacks who were alienated. He was a restless
student, and side by side with his studies he was also active in politics. He also
wrote several plays. “He helped organize the Union of Students from Overseas
France in Lyon, and put out the short-lived newspaper Tam-Tam.”
(Geismar1969, p52). He was always involved in debates, or going to left-wing

meetings, or touring worker-occupied factories.
In Lyon he specialized in psychiatry. In January 1953 he finished his studies and
gave a copy of his thesis to his brother Felix. On the cover he wrote:
To my brother Felix,
I offer this work-
The greatness of a man is to be found not in his acts but in his style.
Existence does not resemble steadily rising curve, but a slow, and
sometimes sad
Series of ups and downs.
I have a horror of weakness--I understand them, but I do not like them.
I do not agree with those who think it possible to live life at an easy pace.
I don’t want this; I don’t think you do either. (Geismar 1969, p11)
In 1952 he wrote Black Skin, White Mask, in which he analyzed the alienated
black from psychological, social, and philosophical perspectives extended from
his experience in his own country, and which applied to the blacks who were
exposed to white racists. In 1953 he married a French white woman from Lyon,
Josie Duble, a social scientist who was helpful to him throughout his life.
Algeria:
After finishing his studies, Fanon had the opportunity to go to Algeria to Blida-
Joinville Hospital to work there as the head of the psychiatric department. At
that time - in 1954 - the Algerian revolution started and on 11 January Algeria
declared armed revolution to be the only way for emancipation and
independence. As time passed he came to believe that all the psychological
problems and mental illness that his patients (both Algerian and French) were
facing were the result of colonialism and that the solution would be in ending it.
He submitted his resignation and became an active member in the Liberation
Algerian Movement, the FLN (Front de Liberatione Nationale). In 1960 he
became an ambassador for the Algerian government in Ghana and worked there
for the Algerian Cause. He became the editor of the FLN newspaper and El-
Moudjahid in Tunis.
Fanon had a very active and remarkable role in the Algerian revolution,
specifically in Algeria and generally throughout Africa. His books were also
effective. There were three attempts to assassinate him, one in Algeria and two
in Rome, but all of them failed.
Later he discovered that he had leukemia, but remained strong and tried to do as
much as possible in the remaining time. Two months before his death he wrote
within ten weeks The wretched of the Earth and then went to Rome to see
Sartre, who wrote the preface to the book. Fanon died on 6 December 1961 at
the age of 36. He had planned to write many books about the FLN and
colonialism, but he died before achieving his plans. Some days before his death,
he wrote a letter to his brother Joby, saying:
What I want to say is that death is always close by, and what ‘s important
is not to know if you can avoid it, but to know that you have done the
most possible to realize your ideas… We are nothing on earth if we are
not, first of all, slaves of a cause, the cause of the people, the cause of
justice, the cause of liberty. (Geismar 1969, p185)
His body was taken to his adopted country, Algeria, where he was buried. He
died the same year Algeria got its independence, missing the event to which he
had devoted so much of his life.
Fanon accomplished a great deal in his brief life, writing three books and
sharing in them his knowledge, reasoning, and experience, reaching out to the
oppressed who were exposed to colonialism, exploitation, degradation, and
racism, struggling for their freedom.
Some critics argue that Fanon provide few new theories. However, it was not as
much a matter of the vintage of his ideas as it was a matter of strength of
concepts. Marx, for example, wrote his book in 1848, and his ideas played a
powerful role in 1948 after the WWII and two trends appeared: Socialism and
Capitalism. (Woddies 1972) ideas which were very much alive and still playing
a powerful role in 1994. More to the point, in the case of Fanon, is that his ideas
are still active because actually colonialism did not end.
Fanon’s writing expresses his deep human sensibilities, passions, and anger
which touches the reader as the author strives to create more just world. The
inconsistency of his style made his writings more interesting.
The importance of Fanon’s work stems from the following:
 He opened the way to the psycho-cultural aspects of colonialism and the

struggle against it. He helped the oppressed in self-recognition and
cultural recognition.
 He contributed to the amalgamation and consolidation of concepts in
various fields of science. He linked all these so as to give a clear and
comprehensive vision of how the relation between the colonizer and the
colonized functions, and of how his ideas may be implemented so as to
make a change.
Philosophy:
Fanon’s experience was accompanied by the influence of certain intellectuals

such as Aime Cesair and Sartre; and his readings of Marx, Hegel, and others
crystallized his vision. Fanon ‘s ideas and concepts had considerable effect on
the Third World, especially his ideas about negritude, colonialism, and Western
Civilization.
Pithouse comments, “The power of his work resides in its eclecticism.

Fanon’s work is a mixture of philosophy, politics, psychology, and
sociology, it draws freely on Marx, Nietzsche, Jung, Lacan , Cesaire,
Sartre, and Hegel… the work draws on the best resources of a variety
of disciplines to focus closely on a specific theme, it can be the road to
unusually perspective and resonant work.” (Pithouse, p1
In addition to his crucial and powerful theories and observations, Fanon affected
the anti-colonial and radical movements that appeared in Africa and Asia in the
late 1950s and 1960s to the extent that some considered his book The Wretched
of the Earth as a handbook for revolution. Black Skin, White Mask also affected
the blacks’ vision of themselves and of the world. His writings aimed to awake
the oppressed, to make them recognize themselves through uncovering the true
portrait of the colonizer.
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Chapter 2
The Wretched of The Earth:
This chapter includes the summary and analysis of Fanon’s book The Wretched
of The Earth.
As a result of Europe’s strength, it succeeded in transferring its internal
contradictions to the Third World, while protecting and sustaining its unity as a
supposedly idealistic, humanistic, and self-homogeneous body. These
contradictions in the Third World through the internal division and dualism
inside it which appeared on various levels: the continent, the nation, the colony,
classes, groups, and lastly the individual. It created a dual world--the colonizer
and the colonized.
A world divided into compartments, a motionless, Manicheistic

world, a world of statues: the statue of the general who carried out
the conquest, the statue of the engineer who built the bridge; a
world which is sure of itself, which crushes with its stones the backs
flayed by whips: this is the colonial world. (Fanon 1963, p41)
The importance of Fanon extended from his ability to float develop an idea from
the individual to the world, describing how the relations between individuals,
groups, classes, nation, and the developing nations function, until he elucidated
a vision of the world as a whole. In the end, the world is governed by people,
“human nature”. The strength of Fanon does not only appear in his
development, but also the way he assimilates the contradictions within human
nature to a seamless view of reality; he gives a comprehensive vision of the
world. Europe created a dual world, and it transferred dualism to the Third
World at all levels until the individual became dual being. There was a
transformation from the world to the individual. (See the diagram p 71)
Dualism may be defined as the existence of two different (inverse) trends or

approaches within the same body, resulting in the creation of a hesitated body,
contradictory in its behavior, with no self-confidence, unable to make a

wholesome change.
This dualism is policy and a consequence at the same time. It is the target that
the colonizer seeks to achieve so as to control the colonized, and also a
mechanism to reach that target.
Fanon proposed two kinds of dualism:
 The cultural dualism: the existence of the European culture and the
native culture.
 The deprivation dualism: the colonized hates the colonizer, but he looks
at him enviously; he doesn’t wish to be like him, but rather to replace
him.
“The under-developed peoples behave like starving creatures." (Ibid.,
p162)
This dualism creates internal violence and instability within the body. Dualism
takes various forms and appears according to the circumstances, and sometimes
it reaches a phase such that the body must adopt one or the other of the
approaches or trends or else self-destruct. Fanon tries to break all barriers in the
world, to break the internal barriers within the individual; Fanon tries to free the
world from this dualism.
The colonial context is characterized by the dichotomy, which imposes

upon the whole people. Decolonisation unifies that people by the radical
decision to remove from it its heterogeneity, and by unifying it on a
national sometimes a racial basis. (Ibid, p37).
Fanon asserts that the colonized person must be emancipated his dependence on
a European perspective. In the end, colonialism is a European colonialism and
the emancipation from it is part of the identity of the colonized.
Fanon describes the dialectic between the colonized and the colonizer, so that if
it is applied to the Third World, one can see the dynamics at work at various
levels, and thereby discern the need for corrective measures. The experience
which Fanon enjoins for the Third World is not an easy nor simple one. It
requires much intensity, violence, time penetration, and contradictions. Fanon
tries to create a new reality and he does not surrender to the existing reality; he
is much deeper and he tries to overcome the reaction phase. Fanon’s ideas are
more developed than the realist theory, which has spread in political studies.
This occurs through the depth of his concepts. The differences between them
are as follows:
1. The realistic theory supposed that the nature of the human being is
characterized by selfishness and wickedness. But actually it is a
mixture; it may be idealistic and good and on the other, contrary side, be
selfish and wicked.
2. The realist theory is based on the principle of power: It deals with this
concept as the ability to control the minds and the actions of other,
while Fanon concentrates on the consciousness and the mental
emancipation and so the change of behavior. Fanon means the
emancipation from the control over the mind and behavior.
3. The realistic theory considers the national unity as the main unit for
analyzing, whereas Fanon argues that the national consciousness
actually creates the national unity. So he goes much deeper than realist
theory.
4. The realist theory deals with rules and standards that one should
understand, assimilate, and not penetrate, because penetrating them
leads to failure. Fanon tries to change the standards so as to reach a
more humane and just world.
Fanon provides a vision and method for emancipation: How can the third world
emancipate itself? How can it enter history? How can it get rid of all the
accumulated backwardness? How can it get rid of dualism?
If dualism were exposed to good financial conditions and the possession of

resources and wealth, it would still appear through the severe behavior of and
evil of human beings.
Fanon aims to find a new pattern of human, a pattern that differs from the
European one. In this chapter I will explain the ideas of Fanon as the following:
1) Dualism – the reality that the colonizer imposed on the colonized.
2) How emancipation from this reality is to be achieved.
3) The mechanism of emancipation.
4) How to protect (sustain) the society after getting rid of dualism, not
permitting dualism to return in any manner, direct or indirect.
Fanon proposed his vision through explaining the phases, the conflicts, and the
internal and external dialectic processes. He argued that the emancipation from
colonialism cannot be achieved except after the destruction of both weakness
and dualism that exist in the individual, groups, classes, and the nations. He first
concentrated on the individual for emancipation and developed his proposal
until he would reach to an entire world as an inverse to the process of
colonialism.
Colonialism created division through the control of the state, the economies, and
the institutions, and it developed until it penetrated the individual. (See the
diagram, p71) Europe succeeded in controlling the Third World through its
military power and by denigrating the Third World so as to justify its own
existence. It rebukes and depreciates all the Third World’s civilization as one. It
did not differentiate between one nation and the other. For example, the Negro
is a Negro, and the Arab is an Arab. It divided the world into two – the
European world and the Third World. It possessed the state, resources, and
institutions, and also determined and applied the constitution and the laws. It
imposed a specific pattern on the colonized nation and affected deeply the
internal structure of it. At the end it possessed the entire infrastructure to create
that pattern of the colonized state, that pattern of the colonized individual.
Fanon called for the overcoming of the tendency toward a reaction phase arising
as a result of Europe’s actions. For example, Europe’s rejection of the African
continent does not mean that the African continent should react and bring to life
a Negro civilization. This would put the African nations in a crisis, because each
nation had its own culture. The attachment to the Negro culture would be at the
expense of the original culture of the nation, which should be strengthened to
achieve the homogeneity and the power inside the nation.
Fanon categorizes the comprehensive emancipation phases as two-fold:
1. The Nationalism phase: Fanon believes that this phase should be

completed before entering the second phase. This phase is crucial in
creating consciousness and also for the emancipation from
backwardness and tribal conflicts. It is important for the emergence
of the nation and the culture and is related strongly to the revolution.
2. The Social Phase: a vision toward the society, the development,
and adjustment of the society. If this phase precedes the first phase,
the reversal of the appropriate order will lead to a new, hard phase
much more difficult than the pre-national condition.
Not accomplishing the first phase means that the ethnic, religious, and regional
divisions will emerge again much more severely, and it will be much more
difficult to change and direct the nation towards the National Vision.
1. The reality that the colonizer imposed:
Fanon defines Decolonialism as:
…quite simply the replacing of a certain species of men by

another species of men. Without any period of transition …to tell
the truth, the proof of success lies in a whole social structure
being changed from the bottom up. The extraordinary importance
of this change is that is that it is willed called for, demanded.
(Ibid., p29)
Colonialism aims to negate the Other. This occurs through the control of the
economic resources, the management of the state, the exploitation of the nation,
the negation of the people politically, and the creation and application of laws.
This colonial control is characterized as complete and comprehensive.
Because it is a systematic negation of the other person and a

furious determination to deny the other person all attributes of
humanity, colonialism forces the people it dominates to ask
themselves the question constantly: “ In reality, who am I?
(Ibid., p203).
The negation of the Other is attained through achieving the following:
“The poverty of the people, national oppression and the inhibition of

culture are one and the same thing.” (Ibid, p191)
1. The inhibition of culture: The aim of this is to make the colonized

unable to see any culture except the European culture as an ideal pattern,
which assures him that there is no legitimate reference to his original
identity.
2. The poverty of the people: It aims to enrich itself, to divide the masses,
to direct the masses toward obtaining the main necessary things just for
living, structuring their identity according to their needs and determining
the social standards.
3. National oppression: It aims to impose its power as a colonizer and as a
military power to make the colonized obedient by force. This obedience
reaches such an extent that the colonized submits his destiny to the hands
of the colonizer. The colonizer uses inhuman methods such as fear,
hunger, forced labor, contempt, and rebuke, so as to deprive the
colonized of his humanity and hence justify its own existence through its
own superior “humanity”.
4. Self--destruction: It aims to destroy the colonized through self-
destruction, to make the colonized always seek to follow the colonizer’s
pattern, and he cannot effectively do that. This makes the colonized
much more easily controlled and directed, furthermore ensuring that the
colonized will not rebel or revolt. The colonizer thus not only denigrated
the colonized but also strove to make him confess the colonizers’
superiority and the colonized’s own backwardness and inferiority.
Europe created an internal divided world within the colony:
Divided geographically: we observe that the geography of the colony is divided

into two contradictory regions: the region of the colonized and the region of the
colonizer. The latter gives an impression of beauty, wealth, richness, tidiness,
and cleanliness, whereas the former is, as Fanon describes it, a “hunger, starved
of bread, of meat, of shoes, of coal of light. The native town is a crouching
village, a town on its knees, a town wallowing in the mire. It is a town of
niggers and dirty Arabs.” (Ibid., p32). They are two extremes: “They both
follow the principle of reciprocal exclusivity. No conciliation is possible, for of
the two terms, one is superfluous.” (Ibid., p32).
Socially: It created a different kind of social standard from the norm of the well-
known, time-honored human standards. This means the “destruction of native
social forms.” (Ibid., p 33)
Myth- making: It created the myths that describe the colonized negatively, as
evil, backward, savage. It describes the colonized in terminologies that are used
for animals.
Divided economically:
A confused economy:
Fanon says, “ The colony’s economy is not integrated into that of

the nation as whole. It is still organized in order to complete the
economy of the different mother counties. (Ibid., p129)
A superior economy: .
Fanon says, “ The originality of the colonial context is that
economic reality, inequality and the immense difference of ways
of life never come to mask the human realities. When you
examine at close quarters the colonial context, it is evident that
what parcels out the world is to begin with the fact of belonging
to or not belonging to a given race, a given species. In the
colonies the economic substructure is also a superstructure. The

cause is the consequence; you are rich because you are white you
are white because you are rich.” (Ibid., p32)
Creating facts: The colonizer tried to use “scientific facts” and knowledge to
prove and ensure the backwardness of the colonized, such as deficiency or
defect within the brain that makes the colonized person behave like an animal.
The West considered the “scientific facts” as a proof of the colonized’s flawed
formation.
The missionary society:

Fanon views the church as a “white church”; it is an advocate of the oppressor
and authoritative white. It is not a religious movement toward the path of God.
(See p34)
Classes: The colonizer determines the features of the classes. Each class
develops in a different trend and unevenly, which makes the society lose its
homogeneity as a whole. The peasant class is the most revolutionary and
spontaneous one. The colonizer aims to stagnate it and to make it backward to
ensure that it won’t develop and threaten his existence. This class is dangerous
to the colonizer because it is not penetrated by the him and it is not dual; its
infrastructure is correct. Although this class is simple, it refuses and confronts
the colonial division and rejects it. This class recognizes that the struggle is the
only way to get rid of the colonizer. The peasant class is distinguished from
others in that the individual is sealed within the group.
The intellectual class: The colonizers create a group that consists of the
educated who are seeking and interested in the European culture. The colonial
power uses them as an intermediary for achieving its targets. These individuals
are unable to make a change because they are dual. Dualism is severe in them
and is reflected in the society as a whole because of them. If they fail to get rid
of that dualism, they adopt a dualistic behaviour, opportunistic; they adopt
multiple positions, play with terminologies, are un-nationalistic in their
behaviour, vague, and cunning, and wicked.
This division creates ethnic and tribal conflicts: The colonizer aims to
stimulate internal disputes and conflicts by giving more privileges to a particular
group than to the others, through choosing the kind of people deemed suitable
for negotiation, by increasing the gaps among the masses through promoting the
backwardness and stagnation in the rural areas. The colonizer creates a divide-
and-conquer milieu of tribes, groups, and parties.
Proletariat: The colonizer gave this class some privileges: “ In reality it (the
working class) represents that fraction of the colonized nation which is
necessary and irreplaceable if the colonial machine is to run smoothly.” (Ibid., p
88). The proletariat is not ready to get involved in the struggle, and if asked to
do so, it would refuse.
The Lumpen proletariat: These are persons who originate in the rural areas
and go to the urban areas so seek a living, as well as the unemployed. This class
is unconscious, easily attracted either to the revolution or to the enemy.
The proletarian class and the intellectual class arrive at a compromise with the
bourgeoisie class, but the latter does not appear as an obvious class during
colonialism. Fanon called it “ the national bourgeoisie.” There is some
ambiguity in Fanon’s proposal when he describes the political party and the
bourgeoisie class. The distinction between them is confusing and not clear.
----------------------------------------
2. How should emancipation be attained?
For Fanon, emancipation means getting rid of dualism, and entails a radical
change in the concepts and standards that the colonizer created within the
colony.
To tell the truth, the proof of success lies in a whole social structure being
changed from bottom up. The extraordinary importance of this change is
that it is willed, called for, demanded…. [We] might find it in the well-
known words: “the last shall be first and the first last. (Ibid. , p29-30)
Emancipation means being free of all kinds of colonialism, whether military

colonialism or neo-colonialism with its more economic dimension.
Emancipation does not mean only geographical liberation, as many nations
achieve their independence but remain under the control of the colonizers.
Emancipation is achieved on three levels: 1) emancipation from the

West, 2) truth-telling, and 3) having a clear vision and targets:
1. Disengagement from the West
Individual: the individual cannot build his own pattern unless he is convinced
that the European pattern is not his own and is not the standard and ideal model
for humanity, civilization, and stability. This awareness will lead to a return to
native values and mores.
Political parties: The main problem of the political parties is that their structure
and model were built according to the Europeans’ concept of the political party.
They built their vision and behave according to that model. They copy it and
behave like the West, and this behavior structured their relationship with the
peasant class. Their vision was characterized by superiority. It has the same
vision of the European parties toward the peasants, and subsequently they
marginalize them.
The native intellectuals, who have studied in their respective

“mother-countries” the working of political parties, carefully
organize similar institutions in order to mobilize the masses and
bring pressure to bear on the colonial administration...The elite will
attach a fundamental importance to organization, so much that the
fetish of organization will often take precedence over a
reasoned study of colonial society. The notion of the party is a
notion imported from the mother country. This instrument of
modern political warfare is thrown down just as it is, without the
slightest modification, upon real life with all its infinite variations
and lack of balance, where slavery, serfdom, barter, a skilled
working-class and high finance exist side by side. The weakness of
political parties does not only lie in the mechanical application of an
organization which was created to carry on the struggle of the

working-class inside a highly industrialized, capitalist society….
The great mistake, the inherent defect in the majority of political
parties in under-developed regions has been, following traditional
lines, to approach in the first place those elements which are the
most politically conscious: the working classes in towns, the skilled
workers and the civil servants – that is to say, a tiny portion of the
population, which hardly represents more than 1%. (Ibid., p87)
The political parties don’t intend to change the system radically, but try to
obtain more authority from the colonial authority. Their vision is realistic,
they call for legitimacy and don’t aim to use violence. They seek to make
adjustment and call for the improvement of the proletariat’s position as if
colonialism does not exist. They use national slogans but they work for
their own interests.
The rank and file of a nationalist party is urban. The workers, primary
school teachers, artisans and small shop-keepers who have begun to
profit--at a discount, to be sure – from the colonial set-up, have special
interests at heart. (Ibid., p47)
The political parties do not manage to organize the country districts.

Instead of using existing structures and giving them a nationalist or
progressive character, they mean to try and destroy living tradition in the
colonial framework, they only try to erect a framework around the people
which follows an a priori schedule. (Ibid., p 91)
The political parties build a European philosophy. They ensure the legitimacy of
the party. The individuals make sacred the legitimacy of the party and forget the
national aims. The behavior of the political parties stimulates and leads to
dualism inside the society, because the more they organizes itself as groups, the
more the peasantry feel marginalized and ousted. The more harsh the
relationship, the more likely it is to lead to a conflict between the masses and the
political party, i.e. a conflict between the popular revolution and the political
party.
The political parties are contradictory in their behavior. They do not aim for
revolution, but actually stimulate the people for it, although they don’t wish to
change the system completely. In case the people rebel, they direct the rebellion
to their own benefits. They don’t try to enhance consciousness or to organize the
struggle, but use it as a political card.
The emancipation of the political party means the adoption of a new philosophy
that is consistent with the society’s needs.
The bourgeoisie: According to the Third World concept, the bourgeoisie is a

monopolistic and backward class and it is created by the colonial power. It is not
like the bourgeoisie western class. The colonial bourgeoisie appears obviously
and openly when the colonizer leaves the country. It controls the entire
institutional framework and takes over the mandates and prerogatives which
previously were for the colonizer. As if to replace the colonizer, it behaves like
the colonial power, adopts its politics, and adopts its exploitation system. To
detach itself from the West would mean its self-destruction as a class.
The intellectuals: These persons play a crucial rule in the success of the
emancipation, the spread of consciousness among the masses, and the liberation
of the nation. If they don’t enter the revolution phase and emancipation occurs,
they will be corrupted. The intellectual class (group) is always opportunistic,
controls the resources, and pledges the nation from within. The Intellectuals
always seek to adopt the European culture and are then unable to argue against it
because they cannot argue with integrity from a Western perspective and also
cannot negate the original culture. .
Emancipation from Europe means going back to the rule of the masses, and
emancipation from the West’s effects.
In order to assimilate the Western culture and to get rid of the original one, the
intelligentsia adopts some Western ideas and concepts, and it cannot get rid of
these ideas unless it is involved with the people and recognizes the suffering of
the people.
The intelligentsia plays a crucial rule in spreading consciousness among the
people and in organizing the revolution, so that the nation will participate in the
revolution and behave like one body. The classes collapse and consciousness is
directed to the rehabilitation of the native culture.
The importance of this class appears through its recognition of the important
roles of the municipal councils and the popular committees in the villages.
Geographical nation: Departure from the idea of “the capital,” of extending

great privileges to a small group, and the idea of “the inflation of the cities” will
be necessary. All the regions should be rehabilitated, especially the rural
regions. The idea of the capital is a colonialist one. It expresses the inequality
within the nation. “The life of the capital, an altogether artificial life which is
stuck onto the real, national life like a foreign body, ought to take up the least
space possible in the life of the nation, which is sacred and fundamental” (Ibid.
, p150)
The public institutions: Institutions should not be identical to and sharing the
philosophy of the Western institutions. Their philosophy, targets, and visions
should be extended from the need and the philosophy of the nation. One
example is that of the institutions concerned with African youth issues. The
young form a very important group because in the future they will lead the
nation and will form the army. The culture of the young collides with the
Western culture. This collision leads this group toward moral corruption,
because their deep involvement in Western culture usually directs them toward
the bad in that culture, whereas usually the Western young are not affected
badly. Fanon views that these organizations should work in order to achieve
psychological stability and move toward elements, which make them aware and
conscious, and not to imitate the developed nation. Also Fanon argues “the
government’s duty is to act as a filter and a stabilizer…the ministry for Labor,
which is a prime necessity in an under-developed country, functions in
collaboration with the Ministry for Planning, which is another necessary
institution in under-developed countries.” (Ibid. , p157)
2. Truth:
Fanon emphasizes the importance of honesty as a crucial factor that determines

the extent of success of emancipation, self-building, and nation building.
 Fanon believes that if the bourgeoisie class is honest, it should destroy itself.
 He sees that the honest intellectuals are those who leave the political party
and get involved in the struggle as they recognize its failure, and they form a
new party parallel to the original one.
 Honesty is a base for building the nation, crucial for discovering new
humanistic values, crucial for building a new pattern.
If man is known by his acts, then we will say that the most urgent thing
today for the intellectuals is to build up his nation. If this building up is
true, that is to say if it interprets the manifest will of the people and
reveals the eager African peoples, then the building of a nation is of
necessity accompanied by the discovery and encouragement of
universalizing values” (Ibid., p199)
The Algerian war, like all wars of national liberation bring to the fore the
true protagonists. (Ibid., p248)
It may happen that the arrested leader is in fact the authentic mouthpiece
of the colonized masses. In this case colonialism will make use of his
period of detention to try to launch new leader. (Ibid., p57)
In discussing the difficult situation at the beginning of the revolution, Fanon

describes the honesty of the masses:
In undertaking this onward march, the person legislates, finds itself, and
wills to sovereignty. In every corner that is thus awakened from colonial
slumber, life is lived at an impossibly high temperature. There is a
permanent out-pouring in all the villages of spectacular generosity, of
disarming kindness, and willingness, which cannot ever be doubted, to die
for the cause. (Ibid., p106)
3. Clear vision and goals:
Fanon pictures the emancipation process as an interrelated process. Any

shortcomings or vagueness at the beginning phase or during the revolution will
emerge later, even after emancipation. During the revolution the aims and vision
should be clear, so as not to go within the circle of compromise or doubt. This
clarity is considered a foundation on which the success of revolution will
depend.
The political parties have no clear vision about the future of the nation’s system,
the nation’s structure, and the economic system. They continue their certainly
regarding national unity and their satisfaction with the existing reality as they
confront colonialism. Later this will put them in a crisis.
The militant champs on his bit. Now it is that the attitude taken up
by certain militants during the struggle for liberation is seen to be
justified, for the fact is that in the thick of the fight more than a
few militants asked the leaders to formulate a dogma, to set out
their objectives and to draw up a programme. But on the pretext
of safeguarding national unity, the leaders categorically refused to
attempt such a task (ibid., p 137)
Such setbacks confirm the “theoretical analysis” of the nationalist

parties. The disastrous experience of trying to enroll the country
people as a whole reinforces their distrust and crystallizes their
aggressiveness towards that section of the people. Even after the
struggle for national freedom has succeeded, the same mistakes are
made and such mistakes make for the maintenance of decentralizing
and autonomist tendencies. Tribalism in the colonial phase gives
way to regionalism in the national phase, and finds its expression as
far as institutions are concerned in federalism.” (Ibid., p92)
If the bourgeoisie chas controlled the government, the political party will
collapse from a lack of strong bases that provide it with continuity and
sustenance.
-----------------------------------------------------
2. Mechanism of Emancipation:
1. Violence = insurrection
2. Consciousness = self- building unity of the Nation
3. Rebellion = revolution
4. Collapse of class = the success of revolution
5. Leadership
Fanon deals with the five variables mentioned above as they are interrelated and
each one develops with the other. For example, violence starts in a simple and
spontaneous way and then it develops until it becomes insurrection. This is
accompanied by development of consciousness, toward building self-
confidence, self-building, freedom, etc. Also this is accompanied by the
development of rebellion into revolution, in which all the people take part.
The success of revolution depends on the extent to which classes are collapsed.
So in the end, the colonized will come in one trend, behave as one body and as
one nation.
Leadership plays a crucial role in spreading consciousness among the people,

organizing the struggle and revolution. Their involvement within the people
aims to create one mass, homogeneous with itself, able to confront and face
colonialism. The success of building a nation depends on the development of
each variable mentioned above, and proportionally interrelated with each other.
Violence:
There is no clear definition for violence in Fanon’s proposal. He uses this

terminology in different contexts. But I think Fanon meant all kinds of violence,
including direct violence (killing, physical torture, explosions), and indirect
violence (such as psychological violence). For example, when a peasant is
deprived of his land, that is psychological violence. When a prisoner is put in an
isolation cell, this is violence. When the colonized feels that he is threatened at
any moment by the gunpowder of the colonizer, this is violence. When the
colonized wishes to replace the colonizer, this too is violence.
Fanon doesn’t explain how violence is developed, which makes his terminology
regarding violence ambiguous. But the most developed stage of violence is the
insurrection or “ the absolute violence.” Fanon also describes violence as
follows:
The violence with which the supremacy of white values is affirmed.

(Ibid., p35)
It (colonialism) is violence in its natural state, and it will only yield when
confronted with greater violence. (Ibid., p48)
Violence means not to surrender to dualism.
You may fear or be feared (Ibid., p18)
The rebel weapon is the proof of his humanity. (Ibid., p18)
You will learn how, in the period of their helplessness, their mad
impulse to murder is the expression of natives’ collective unconscious
(Ibid., p16)
The native discovers reality and transforms it into the pattern of his
customs, into the practice of violence and into his plan for freedom.
(Ibid., p46)
Fanon explained the phases of violence inside the society as follows:
The first phase: The oppression and impoverishment of the nation and the
negation of the culture lead to an internal psychological suppression within the
colonized. Because he is unable to find an identity, unable to confront or to stop
the colonizer, unable to find a reference identity, he is in a confused and
disordered state, which creates inside him violence, aggressiveness, and a desire
to attack. The violence accumulates in him, and the internal tension in the
colonized makes him unable to determine exactly what is happening:
The native is always on the alert, for since he can only make out
with difficulty the many symbols of the colonial world, he is never
sure whether or not he has crossed the frontier. Confronted with a
world ruled by the settler, the native is always presumed guilty. But
the native’s guilt is never a guilt which he accepts: it is rather a kind
of curse, a sort of sword of Damocles, for, in his innermost spirit,
the native admits no accusation. He is overpowered but not tamed;
he is treated as an inferior but he is not convinced of his inferiority.
He is patiently waiting until the settler is off his guard to fly at him.
The native muscles are always tensed. (Ibid., p42)
The native is confronted with the colonial order of things, he

finds he is in a state of permanent tension. The settler’s world is
a hostile world, which spurns the native, but at the same time it is
a world of which he is envious. We have seen that the native
never ceases to dream of putting himself in the place of the
settler- not of becoming the settler but of substituting himself for
the settler. This hostile world, ponderous and aggressive because
it fends off the colonized masses with all the harshness it is
capable of, represents not merely a hell from which the swiftest
flight possible is desirable, but also a paradise close at hand,
which is, guarded by terrible watchdogs. (Ibid.,p42)
The second phase: This violence and energy is first released internally (within
the community), which results in an increase in internal conflict, crimes, and
violence by individuals and groups.
The settler-native relationship is a mass relationship. (Ibid., p43)
The native‘s muscular tension finds outlet regularly in bloodthirsty

explosion – in tribal warfare, in feuds between sects, and in quarrels
between individuals. (Ibid., p43)
Tribal feuds only serve to perpetuate old grudges deeply buried in

the memory. By throwing himself with all his force into the
vendetta, the native tries to persuade himself that colonialism does

not exist, that everything is going on as before, that history
continues. Here on the level of communal organizations we clearly
discern the well-known behavior
patterns of avoidance. It is as if plunging into fraternal blood bath
allowed them to ignore the obstacle, and to put off till later the
choice, nevertheless inevitable, which opens up the question of
armed resistance of colonialism. Thus collective auto destruction in
a very concrete form is one of the ways in which the native
muscular tension is set free…. .In the same way the native manages
to by-pass the settler. A belief in fatality removes all blame from the
oppressor; the cause of misfortunes and of poverty is attributed to
God; He is the fate. In this way the individual accepts the
disintegration ordained by God, bows down before the settler and
his lot, and by a kind of interior restabilization acquires a stony
calm. (Ibid., P43-44)
Also this accumulated energy directs the colonized toward a world which they
build to persuade themselves that colonialism does not exist. The colonized’s
belief in and attachment to this world creates a narrow perspective, which leads
them toward witchcraft and a dark world away from the real world.
Meanwhile, however, life goes on, and the native will strengthen
the inhibitions which contain his aggressiveness by drawing on the
terrifying myths which are so frequently found in underdeveloped
communities…. a whole series of tiny animals or giants which
create around the native a world of prohibitions, of barriers and of
inhibitions far more terrifying than the world of the settler. (Ibid.,
p44)
The third phase: exertion of violence by the colonized to free him from his
forbidding world which he built for himself. The development of violence takes
its forms through organizing and directing violence, and so violence is reflected
against its owner.
Fanon sees that the emancipation of the colonized is achieved through exposure
to violence and also through carrying out violence. Violence develops into
insurrection.
“In all armed struggle, there exists what we might call the point of no return….
They have decided to reply by violence, they are ready to take all its
consequence.” (Ibid, p70-71).
This struggle helps in creating homogeneity among the people, in building the
identity, because all the people participate in building the nation.
The goals of violence:
The colonized emancipate themselves from the prison world that they put
themselves in. This occurs through:
1. Liberation from the fantasmic, magical, and mythical world that they
lived in for a long time.
2. Liberation from the barriers of fear between them and the colonizer, so
they will recognize that they have a value of the same magnitude as that of
the colonizer, which restores their confidence.
3. Liberation from the problems caused by a deficiency of consciousness.
At all level of individuals, violence is a cleansing force. It frees the

native from his inferiority complex and from his despair and
inaction; it makes him fearless and restores his self-respect. Even if
the armed struggle has been symbolic and the nation is demobilized
through a rapid movement decolonization, the people have the time
to see that the liberation has been the business of each and all and
that the leader has no special merits. From thence comes that type
of aggressive reticence with regard to the machinery of protocol
which young governments quickly show. When the people have
taken violent part in the national liberation they will allow no one to
set themselves up as “ liberators”. They show themselves to be
jealous of the results of their action and take good care not to place
their future, their destiny or the fate of their country in the hands of
a living god. Yesterday they were completely irresponsible; today
they mean to understand everything and make all decisions,
illuminated by violence; the consciousness of the people rebels

against any pacification. From now on the demagogues, the
opportunists, and the magicians have a difficult task. The action
which has thrown them into a hand-to-hand struggle confers upon
the masses a voracious taste for the concrete. The attempt at
mystification becomes in the long run, practically impossible.
(Ibid., p74)
4. Penetration time: because colonialism is a replacement without a transition, so

violence penetrates the phases of emancipation.
5. Freedom from the internal divisions, disputes, and the groups’ conflicts.
“Violence is in action all-inclusive and national. It follows that it is closely
involved in the liquidation of regionalism and tribalism” (Ibid., p73)
6. The destruction of the body that the colonizer built, in order to build a new
one. Sartre says,
“ It is man re-creating himself. I think we understood this truth at one

time, but we have forgotten it – that no gentleness can efface the marks of
violence; only violence itself can destroy them. The native cures himself
of colonial neurosis by thrusting out the settler through force of arms.
When his rage boils over, he rediscovers his lost innocence and he comes
to know himself in that he himself creates his self.” (Ibid., p18)
7. An approach toward work: “that same violence which fulfils for the native a
role that is not simply informatory, but also operative.” (Ibid. , p55)
8. Building and creating a national consciousness and moving toward

nationalism.
9. Creation of homogeneity and unity among the people. The exertion of

violence creates and leads to the emergence of the most beautiful meaning of
socialism, humanity, and brotherhood.
Why violence:
As the colonized exert violence; it signifies their refusal of abject obedience and
servitude. They will not be intimidated by the colonizer’s violence. On the
contrary, the colonizer become very alert and afraid of the colonized because the
colonizer don’t know how and when violence will erupt. The colonized impose
a reality on the colonizer. whereas before the colonizer imposes reality on them.
The confrontation begins to create a new reality. The development of violence
and the unity of the people against the colonizer create new circumstances and
conditions for the emergence of the most harmonious and humanistic meanings,
which are used eradicate non-humanity. The colonizer who once ‘provided’ life,
is no longer; so the colonized have become the only determinant of their own
life, which disables the colonizer.
Violence uncovers things and shows their core nature and severity. Fanon sees
that violence continues after emancipation, but doesn’t propose how to
discontinue it.
2. Consciousness:
Fanon aims at the creation of consciousness for the following reasons:
1. That the people not be followers of a person or leader and not praise or
sanctify an individual.
The people are no longer a herd; they do not need to be driven. If

the leader drives me on, I want him to realize that at the same
time I show him the way; the nation ought not to be something
bossed by a grand Panjandrum. (Ibid., p148)
2. It is essential not to exaggerate in the contact with and the attachment to

the past. The past does not create the power and homogeneity, rather the
work does. Fanon sees that the existence of an ancient civilization doesn’t do
anything to the existing reality. It just helps in building confidence, vision,
and ambitions toward the future. Because of that, one should not go into the
details of the past. The revolution builds the nation; the past doesn’t.
3. It is essential to have consciousness of not replacing the colonizer but

overthrowing the colonizer.
4. The movement requires consciousness of work: “The more intelligence

you bring to your work, the more pleasure you will have from it.”
(Ibid.,p153)
5. The movement requires consciousness of the colonized 's own

existence and the imposition of their existence in this one world.
6. It is needful to promote the consciousness that each individual, each

nation has a message, and that to abandon its quest is treason.
The important theoretical problem is that it is necessary at all

times and in all places to make explicit, to demystify and to
harry the insult to mankind that exists in oneself. There must be
no waiting until the nation has produced a new man; there must
be no waiting until men are imperceptibly transformed by
revolutionary processes in perpetual renewal. It is quite true that
these two processes are essential, but consciousness must be
helped. (Ibid., p246)
7. Whatever the strength of Europe’s ingenuity, it cannot destroy the native

pattern completely. There always remain some features that it cannot
overshadow completely. “He is overpowered but not tamed” (Ibid., p42)
8. It is necessary to have the consciousness needed to keep people from

fixating on the needs created by deprivation, which could increase the
feeling of weakness before the smallest glitter of seeming improvement.
The native is so starved for anything, anything at all that will turn him
into a human being, any bone of humanity flung to him, that his hunger
is incoercible, and these poor scraps of charity may, here and there,
overwhelm him. His consciousness is so precarious and dim that it is
affected by the slightest spark of kindliness. (ibid, p112 )
9. One needs “the consciousness of not confusing the internal with the
external; “the nation and the world”. The nation is strong externally
(internationally) as long as it is strong internally. Giving so much effort
to the international conflict at the expense of the internal leads to
weakness externally. It is essential not to confuse the internal politics of

the nation with the global approach.
10. The movement needs the consciousness not to allow the legitimacy of
the political party to overcome the legitimacy of the nation.
11. The people must be made conscious that hate and resentment are not a
political program.
12. National consciousness is vital.
Far from keeping aloof from other nations, therefore, it is national

liberation which leads the nation to play its part on the stage of history.
It is at the heart of national consciousness that international
consciousness lives and grows. And this two-fold emerging is ultimately
only the source of all culture. (Ibid., p199)
13. The nation needs consciousness in dealing with the culture. It is a core
and not appearance; it is a vision towards the target and not an
observation of the changes for the variables. It is the core for self-
building and not for the mere appearance of the self.
14. The movement requires the consciousness not to go into the circle of
compromise. It is a trap for greater and more comprehensive control by
the colonizer and at less cost than before.
Historic examples can be quoted to help the people to see that the
masquerade of giving concessions, and even the mere acceptance of
the principle of concessions at any price, have been bartered by not a
few countries for a servitude that is less blatant but much more
complete. The people and their leaders ought to know that historical
law which lays down that certain concessions are the cloak for a tighter
rein. (Ibid., P113)
Consciousness is related to many things: the emancipation of the mind, the

efficiency of work, self-building, freedom, recognition of oneself, and
recognition of the world. Self-recognition is related to the individual’s
recognition of the world.
3. Revolution:
The phase of revolution is one of the nation-building phases. If it’s roots are
strong, then the infrastructure of the nation is strong. The more revolution is
made rational, the more it will achieve success.
1. The beginning features of revolution start when the colonized begin to ask the
government for more rights so as to adjust their situation as they recognize that
their destiny is in the hand of the colonizer. These demands develop and
increase in such a way that they become more organized. Later the colonized
recognize more readily when these demands are not met. A new approach
toward nationalism is adopted: the faster the colonized try to free themselves
from the control and power of the colonizer, the faster they go toward a
nationalist approach. This depends on the efforts and work of the consciousness
of the intellectual and the leadership, who seek to emancipate the people from
the colonizer’s control over the colonized’s mind, which means spreading
consciousness of among people. These developments will lead to the
establishment of a party that adopts the national concept.
History teaches us clearly that the battle against colonialism does not run
straight away along the lines of nationalism. For a very long time the
native devotes his energies to ending certain definite abuses: forced labor,
corporal punishment, inequality of salaries, Limitation of political rights,
etc. This fight for democracy against the oppression of mankind will
slowly leave the confusion of neo-liberal universalism to emerge,
sometimes laboriously, as a chain to nationhood. It so happens that the
unpreparedness of the educated classes, the lack of practical links between
them and the mass of the people, their laziness, and, let it be said, their
cowardice at the decisive moment of the struggle will give rise to tragic
mishaps. (Ibid., p121)
2. After this, rebellions start in the villages, led by the honest and devoted
intellectuals and leadership, who have left the political party as they recognized
its failures. They become involved with the peasants, teach them and make them
aware. On the other hand, they also learn from them. They form a new political
party parallel to the original one, and it overcomes the previous one. The
peasants have the ability and are ready to get involved in the struggle because
they don’t have anything to lose, and they are the class that suffered most from
colonialism. They need leadership and direction.
3. After that, rebellion takes more organized forms in the villages and among the
tribes until its features become clear. It develops gradually until it becomes a
revolution, then taking a new path to the urban areas through the umpen
proletariat, so that revolution is spread everywhere.
4. Initially the revolution is characterized by sympathy and spontaneity. There is

no program, no goals, and people just want to get rid of colonialism, as if the
movement will achieve its own sovereignty in a moment. It does in fact deal
strong blows to the enemy. The reaction of the enemy is very severe, and there
are heavy losses among the colonized . Their reaction will change the entire
situation, and chaos will spread among the people. At that moment the role of
the leadership is crucial to sustain the continuity of the revolution. Then the
people will recognize the necessity of confronting the enemy in a more rational
way and not face-to-face. They will adopt a new path--organized, strategic,
taking the form of a well-knit group, leading to outright insurrection or armed
struggle.
5. The people sustain and protect the revolution by creating standards and values
necessary for its continuity. Every person who confronts colonialism will have a
position in the revolution, regardless of whether that person is good or bad.
6. Getting involved in revolution creates facts and realities which may be

sometimes contradictory. Because of this, the awareness of the people is
important, for although discerning the actual situation is sometimes difficult,
awareness of it is important in order to direct and organize the people, so as to
create a social consciousness.
The people will thus come to understand that national independence

sheds light upon many facts which are sometimes divergent and
antagonistic. Such a taking stock of the situation at the precise moment of

the struggle is decisive, for it allows the people to pass from total,
indiscriminating nationalism to social and economic awareness. (Ibid.,
p115)
The Intellectuals:
The development of revolution is accompanied by the development of the

intelligentsia. The spread of awareness among the people will be achieved by
the intellectuals, who understand colonialism very well. The educated will be
able to do this when they themselves are able to get rid of dualism.
The educated pass through phases similar to the phases of violence:
1. The first phase: The intellectuals will be interested in the European culture
and will adopt it out of insecurity. When they become so much involved in it,
they will hold back from radicalization.
2. The second phase: On the one hand is their affinity for some aspects of
colonialism, its mechanism and methods. On the other is the existence of a
national trend seeking independence. This makes them unable to reject their
own culture, and simultaneously unable to abandon the Western culture. They
are in a state of chaos, unable to determine who they really are. This phase is the
initial phase of consciousness characterized by a shallow relationship to the
people.
Then they will try to prove to the colonizer that they truly have a culture, and try
to display the ancient civilization of their people. Also they try to convince the
colonizer that they are not savages. Getting so much into cultural details and the
attachment to history reflects a behavior of escapism from the reality which
structures the negation of the colonized by the colonizer. It is a behavior of
fear, fear caused by the merger of the original culture with the European culture
and fear of the severity of contradictions reaching such an extent that the
intellectuals will be unable to get rid of these contradictions. Their attachment to
history is a reaction to tensions, protecting their dignity.
History, of course, though nevertheless written by westerners and to

serve their purposes, will be able to evaluate from time to time
certain periods of the African past. But, standing face to face with
his country at the present time, and observing clearly and
objectively the events of today throughout the continent which he
wants to make his own, the intellectual is terrified by the void, the
degradation and the savagery he sees there. Now he feels that he
must get away from white culture. He must seek his culture
elsewhere, anywhere at all; and if he fails to find the substance of
culture of the same grandeur and scope as displayed by the ruling
power, the native intellectual will very often fall back upon
emotional attitudes and will develop a psychology which is
dominated by exceptional sensitivity and susceptibility. This
withdrawal which is due in the first instance to a begging of the
question in his internal behavior mechanism and his own character
brings out, above all, a reflex and contradiction which is muscular.
(Ibid., p177)
3. The third phase: the more they who are educated are in touch with the
people, the more they can get rid of dualism; and the more they get involved
with the customary rules; the more they veer away from the West’s culture.
Their emancipation from dualism is related to their understanding of its nature.
Finding your fellow countrymen sometimes means in this phase to will to

be a nigger, not a nigger like all other niggers but a real nigger, a Negro
cur, just the sort of nigger that the white man wants you to be. Going back
to your own people means to become a dirty wag, to go native as much as
you can, to become unrecognizable, and to cut off those wings that before
you had allowed to grow. (Ibid., p178)
In this phase of the revolution, the educated are directed toward the nation,
alerting the people. Here the rebellion takes a new path; it develops and
transforms into a revolution.
The native intellectual nevertheless sooner or later will realize that you do
not show proof of your nation from its culture but that you substantiate its
existence in the fight which the people wage against the forces of
occupation. (Ibid., p179)
We can view the features of this development in the published art; its
development is accompanied by the development of struggle and national
consciousness. It is related to the recognition of the realities of the world, to
evolving perceptions. At the beginning the art is a classical art similar to the
Western art and is directed to the colonizer. Then it will develop and the art
becomes a sarcastic and symbolic art. Here the art expresses the plight and
viewpoint of the victim and the suffering ones. The colonizer encourages this
kind of art because it is a way of discharging embedded violence. In the third
phase art becomes a revolutionary nationalist art and is directed to the people. It
is an art that stimulates and encourages unity and struggle. This leads to the
emergence of new culture.
Fanon’s writings are themselves revolutionary art and directed to the wretched,
to the Third World. He is not a dualist as some scholars argue.
Colonial situation, culture, which is doubly deprived of the support of the

nation and the state, falls away and dies. The condition for its existence is
therefore national liberation and the renaissance of the state. (Ibid., p196)
On that level one observes that the narrators expresses the need of the people,
they talks to them and describe them. Also, in the drawings and paintings the
colors such as blue, red, green are used which were not used before.
Furthermore the type of drawings, which were stagnant art, changes into
something full of movement and rhythm.
Fanon relates the national culture with work and struggle, not with conferences
that call for national culture. Participation in doing the work creates thinking
which directs and ensures struggle. It stimulates the circumstances that lead to
the emergence of cultures. Culture is a curial factor giving homogeneity
between the people and the revolution.
We believe that the conscious and organized undertaking by a colonized

people to re-established the sovereignty of that nation constitutes the most
complete and obvious cultural manifestations that exists. It is not alone
the success of the struggle which afterwards gives validity and vigor to
culture; culture is not put into cold storage during the conflict. The
struggle itself in its development and in its internal progression sends
culture along different paths and traces out entirely new ones for it. (Ibid.,
p197)
4. Leadership:
Leadership plays a crucial role in spreading consciousness among people, in

clarifying the revolution’s aims amongst the people and organizing them.
Leadership is crucial for the continuity of revolution, for sustaining the unity of
the people (the revolutionist body) so as to prevent them from following trends
that may lead to the failure of the revolution. It does not allow the enemy by his
various methods and psychological maneuvers to penetrate the revolution or
allow entry into the circle of compromise. It protects the body politic so as not
to allow the existence of any vacuum through which the enemy can penetrate the
revolution. For example, the unemployed young are a group which is easily
penetrated and attracted. A well-organized movement attracts them to the
struggle and doesn’t allow the enemy to do that, and it confronts the
conspiracies of its enemies. It simply makes the revolution rational.
The leaders show their power and authority by criticizing mistakes, using
every appraisal of past conduct to bring the lesson home, and thus insure
fresh conditions for progress. Each local ebb of the tide will be used to
review the question from the standpoint of all villages and of all political
networks. The rebellion gives proof of its rational basis and expresses its
maturity each time that it uses a particular case to advance the people’s
awareness. In defiance of those inside the movement who tend to think that
shades of meaning constitute dangers and drive wedges into solid block of
popular opinion, the leaders stand firm upon those principles that have been
shifted out in the national struggle, and in the world-wide struggle of man-
kind for his freedom. (Ibid., p116)
5. Collapse of the classes
Fanon calls for a socialist revolution, which becomes something sacred for all
the people regardless of their class level. The involvement of the individual in
the revolution means participation in building the nation and the future.
The cultured native should not concern himself with choosing the level on
which he wishes to fight or the sector where he decides to give battle for
his nation. To fight for national culture means in the first place to fight for
the liberation of the nation, that material key-stone which makes the
building of a culture possible. (Ibid., p187)
-----------------------------------
The bourgeoisie:
When the colonizers leave the colony, they give it to the intellectuals who
are near to them, and through them the colonizer can achieve continued
benefits. They give the colony to this group that adopts the colonizer’s
ideas and concepts and life-style, ceding them all the institutions, lands,
and privileges
Every time such a procedure (control of the bourgeoisie) has been adopted it
has been seen that the government has in fact contributed to the triumph of a
dictatorship of civil servants who had been set in the mould of the former
mother country, and who quickly showed themselves incapable of thinking
in terms of the nation as a whole. (Ibid., p144)
According to Fanon’s concept of revolution, the bourgeoisie must not allow

itself to exist because if it does this means that it is an advocate of the colonizer.
“The bourgeoisie is above all the direct product of precise economic
conditions.” (Ibid., p143) This Bourgeoisie is always in touch with the colonizer
before independence, always seeks to reach a compromise and negotiation with
him for its own benefits. During independence, this class controls the state
through the possession of the resources and the institutions of the state. It
ensures its existence through the monopoly of the state occupations that give it
security and its lifestyle. In time it takes on a racist aspect. This class is not
dualist; it has chosen to adopt the colonizer’s mode, so its existence counters the
nation’s benefit and the trend of the people. It is a tool for the continuity of
colonialism.
This class has no thought or philosophy; closed within itself, it doesn’t seek to
be creative or to work in reforming the conditions of the nation. Rather it seeks
to replace the colonizer, to imitate the European bourgeoisie; its failures appear
quickly. It is a shallow class; it adopts national slogans and the praise of the
traditional crafts. It concentrates on agricultural production—but it doesn’t do
anything productive itself and is rather idle. It imposes its existence by force,
and this is the reason that later it adopts the dictatorship of the single party. It
possesses all the mandates that were there for the colonizer. At the end it
becomes a mediator for the exploitation of the nation and also a tool for
providing places for pleasure, entertainment, and corruption to the European
bourgeoisie.
The bourgeoisie’s behavior will lead to:

 The spread of corruption in the parliament system, and its adoption of
the one-party dictatorship.
 The collapse of the political party, and gradually it will be used to defend
and protect the bourgeoisie.
 Its behavior will spread amongst the nation inside the society.
1. The feudal class emerges and takes over the lands, and exploits the
peasants without giving them any rights. Its life-style exhibits
comfort and luxury.
2. The conflict between the native and non-native groups in free-
lance professions.
3. The people return to ethnicity, division, and regionalism.
Fanon argues that getting rid of the Bourgeoisie occurs through the army,
otherwise the experience of colonialism will be repeated, but this time with the
bourgeoisie class and not the colonizer.
Nation-building and independence
Nation-building may be defined as the unifying of the nation, building a body

homogeneous by itself, void of ethnic and tribal division, aware of its existence,
confident, conscious of its self, able to make a change, having its own style and
culture, having its own pattern and his own identity.
Independence is building and unifying the nation. This creates the national
unity, a nation aware of its culture and existence. This nation exists within
boundaries of its own and possesses the nation (the lands and natural resources).
This nation imposes its sovereignty on the state, imposes its culture and its style
in building the state buildings, cultural centers, religious centers, schools, artistic
expressions. .It is not a follower, but able to pave the way of its existence in this
one world.
How to avoid returning to dualism:
If the revolution phase is completed and its aims achieved, it succeeded in

building the nation, unifying it, creating consciousness among the people, so
that there are no tribal conflicts and regional disputes. The people will not allow
the existence of this dualism, and if it appears, it will be confronted easily.
Fanon sees that there should not be circumstances and conditions that allow the
emergence of this group; this prevention is through the existence of the
conscious educated people who believe in and work for the revolution’s
concept. Otherwise, the existence of this pro-colonial class means the
transformation of colonialism to another kind of colonialism. There should be:
1. The individuals that manage the state should be “conscious politically”. This
doesn’t mean to adopt what they learned in the European countries. They must
teach the masses and share them in building the nation
The political education of the masses proposes not to treat the masses as
children but to make adults of them. (Ibid., p145)
Now, it so happens that when the people are invited to partake in the
management of the country, they do not slow the movement but on the
contrary they speed it up (Ibid., p151)
2. The participation of the masses in the political life in a true sense and not just
ostensibly. The recognition of work which gives it a meaning and quality.
They were quick to understand that the idea of work is not as simple as all
that, that slavery is opposed to work, and that work presupposes liberty,
responsibility and consciousness. (Ibid., p153)
We must above all rid ourselves at the very Western, very bourgeois and
therefore contemptuous attitude that the masses are incapable of
governing themselves. (Ibid, p150)
In an underdeveloped country, experience proves that the important thing

is not that three hundred people form a plan and decide upon carrying it
out , but that the whole people plan and decide even if it takes them twice
or three times as long. (Ibid., p154)
3. A mass economic program is needed:
There must be an economic programme; there must also be a doctrine

concerning the division of wealth and social relations. In fact, there must
be an idea of man and of the future of humanity; that is to say that no
demagogic formula and no collusion with the former occupying power
can take place of a programme. (Ibid., p 162)
4. To be aware and alert not to allow the emergence or crystallization of a

militant and stratified mentality.
------------------------------------
Building a new pattern of man
Why is there a need to build a new model on the international level? Suppose
that the European pattern were sovereign all over the world, so the nations were
deprived of their own language, customs, philosophy, and traditions. This would
lead to the end of the world, actually. Because the existence of that pattern
presupposed the existence of a weak body to be exploited, and involved
inculcating all the contradictions of the colonizer, the endeavor to adopt this
kind of pattern lies with the strong and not the weak body. This means a
tendency toward world conflict, as each state aims to destroy the others in order
to be the strong party, which leads to the self-destruction of the world.
Furthermore, if each Nation wants to be a European nation, it must colonize so

as to go into the same phases of history as the European countries, and that
means they must create a Fourth World.
The colonized build this new pattern when they recognize the truth of this
world. They can build and develop themselves.
To be detached or dissuaded from the realistic theory, from the idea that they are
the weak party, is possible if they understand the truth of this world; they will
recognize that they are not weak.
The necessity and the need of this new pattern is for the benefit of humanity,
Europe and the third world.
Ambiguity in Fanon’s proposal
 It is not clear in his proposal how he makes the transition from

revolution to state; he warns of the control of the bourgeoisie but
doesn’t provide a vision of who should govern the state. He sees that
the political party should sustain and continue to be a tool for
advocating the people, as well as a monitor of the government; he
thus draws a distinction between the party and the government. This
makes the reader feels that there is a vacuum in Fanon’s proposal.
 He doesn’t develop gradually in his proposal as he describes types of
violence, rebellion, and revolution.
 It is not clear how the army can get rid of the bourgeoisie class, as
Fanon describes the army as controlled by Europe.
Chapter 3
Black Skin, White Masks
The psychoanalysts say that nothing is more traumatizing for the young
child than his encounters with what is rational. I would personally say that
for a man whose only weapon is reason there is nothing more neurotic
than contact with unreason. I felt knife blades open within me. I resolved
to defend myself as a good tactician to rationalize the world and to show
the white man he was mistaken. (Fanon 1967, p118)
For Fanon, the relation between the black and white is very strange, it has
nothing to do with logic or philosophy. It is based on unreason.
The title of the book is very beautiful and expressive. It describes how the black
man wears a mask so as to be a white; he imitates the white and wants to be like
him but in the end it is a mask, a persona, and his blackness is a fact. Fanon
wrote this book in 1952 in an attempt to describe the psychology of the black
man and how he reacts toward the world. Fanon works from the Martinique
man’s experience in the French Antilles, which he thinks is applicable to all
blacks, who face the superiority of the white man and their own inferiority
complex; but he is not sure that the same behavior is applied to any race that
went under colonialism.
Fanon aims to make the black man uncover this mask and get rid of this
alienation, which has done nothing to the black man except that it humiliates
him and makes him a tool for the white’s superiority. “When there are no longer
slaves, there are no longer masters.” (Ibid., p219). Fanon starts his book by
explaining his aim:
Why write this book? No one has asked me for it…Well, I reply calmly
that there are too many idiots in this world. And having said it, I have the
burden of proving it. (Ibid., p7).
In this book he deals “with the individual”- the black man, he describes his view
to himself, to the white man, and to the world. He tried to change this view
through changing the concepts of the black about himself and the world, and
thus to build new definitions of the world. He deals with the individual,
although he explains that the problem of the black is not an individual question.
“Every experience, especially if it turns out to be sterile, has to become a
component of reality and thus play a part in the restructuring of reality.” (Ibid.,
p48) There are two factors in opposition or distinction: the black and the white,
two extremes in colors, of “inferiority and superiority,” and also extreme in
their vision of themselves, in terms of self-contempt and high self-esteem.
The black is so much involved in the problem of his blackness, over which he
has no control, and the white is involved in the superiority of his whiteness, and
he can exert it only through the inferiority of the black. Both their behaviors are
interrelated, In order to understand the black, one must understand the white.
The black man wants to be white. The white man slaves to reach a human
level.
The white man is sealed in his whiteness. The black man is sealed in his
blackness. (Ibid., p9)
The feeling of inferiority of the colonized is the correlative to the

European. (Ibid., p93)
In this book Fanon describes the alienated black man and he tries to build
consciousness among blacks, showing him how he can get rid of the control of
the white, who penetrated him so deeply to the extent of producing “self-
contempt”, the phenomenon of the black who belittles himself and his
community to the extent that the black becomes fixated on the idea that his sole
problem in life is the white man. “For the black man there is one destiny. And it
is the White.” (Ibid., p10). The main aim of the black is to become white. But he
cannot change the color of his epidermis. On the other hand, whatever his
intelligence, success, goodness, or virtue, the white will never accept him, so the
black hates the white, so there is a double or dualistic feeling. “The Black man
who wants to turn his race white is as miserable as he who preaches hatred for
the whites.” (Ibid., p8)
Fanon relates this matter to social and economic realities; first he relates this
status to economics and then to society. The fact of the bad image of the black is
not a result of the blackness but rather of economic and social standards and
concepts. “If there is an inferiority complex, it is the outcome of double process:
- primarily economics; - subsequently, the internalization--or better, the
epidernalization – of the inferiority.” (Ibid., p11)
The black man tries to be approved by the white because he feels inferior, so his
behavior with the white differs from his behavior toward the black. “A Negro
behaves differently with a white man and with another Negro. That this self-
division is a direct result of colonialist subjugation is beyond question.” (Ibid.,
p17)
The problem the black man faces is that he deals with a very bad image of
himself, which he has from his childhood onwards, so he is permeated that
image. Also, the problem is within his body: his relation to the world, to the
white and even to himself, is based on his color, and he held responsible for that.
A slow composition of my self as a body in the middle of a spatial and

temporal world--such seems to be the schema. It does not impose itself on
me; rather, a definitive structuring of the self and of the world- definitive
because it creates a real dialectic between my body and the world. (Ibid.,
p111)
I was responsible at the same time for my body, for my race, for my
ancestors. (Ibid., p112)
The black man is alienated because he cannot reach the level of the white man,
while on the other hand he cannot find harmony and protection within his own
race. The main problem efforts is in how to reach the level of the white man. He
remains in a vicious circle, because he is nothing to the white and the white
refuses him, while on the other hand the civilization of the white encircles him.
The black man has no ontological resistance in the eyes of the white man.
Overnight the Negro has been given two frames of reference within which
he has had to place himself. His metaphysics or, less pretentiously, his
customs and the resources on which they were based, were wiped out
because they were in conflict with a civilization that he did not know and
that imposed itself on him.” (Ibid., p110)
There is a fixed image about the black, an image that shows that the “nigger” is
on the same level of an animal. “Negroes are savage, brutes, illiterates. But in
my own case I knew that these statements were false. There was a myth of the
Negro that had to be destroyed at all costs.” (Ibid., p117)
The black tries to enter the white world, but the white man is unmerciful toward
him. Whatever the black man does, in the end he is BLACK, the image is fixed.
The black suffers to such an extent that all what he wants is to be unknown, he
is so ashamed of himself.
What? While I was forgetting, forgiving, and wanting only love, my

message was flung back in my face like a slap. The white world, the
only honorable one, barred me from all participation. A man was
expected to behave like a man. I was expected to behave like a black
man--or at least like a nigger. I shouted a greeting to the world and the
world slashed away my joy. I was told to stay within bounds, to go
back where I belonged. (Ibid., p115)
I slip into corners, and my long antennae pick up the catch-phrases

strewn over the surface of things--nigger underwear smells of nigger--
nigger teeth are white--nigger feet are big--the nigger’s barrel chest--I
slip into corners, I remain silent, I strive for anonymity, for invisibility.
Look, I will accept the lot, as long no one notices me! (Ibid., p116)
The black suffers from the hegemony of the black man inasmuch as that
wherever he goes he faces the problem of whiteness.
All round me the white man, above the sky tears at its navel, the earth
rasps under my feet, and there is a white song. All this whiteness that
burns me… (Ibid., p114)
Fanon tries to solve the problem of the black through disalienation; that is, the
black accepts himself for what he is and works at restructuring the world and
trying to build new definitions to impress on the world. “It will be understood
that the first impulse of the black man is to say no to those who attempt to build
a definition of him.” (Ibid., p36)
Fanon describes the alienated behavior of the black man from various
perspectives: the language, “the black man and the white woman,” and “ the
black woman and the white man. Then he explains about the superiority of the
white man, and how blackness cannot escape from that superiority. In the last
four chapters he explains and analyses the behavior of the black and how he can
become disalienated.
1.The Negro and the language:
One can recognize the alienation of the Negro through the way he deals with the
language – the language of the other, the master. The black wants to be white, so
through his possession and his fluency of the French language he feels that he
has entered into the white civilization.
It is implicit that to speak is to exist absolutely for the other. (Ibid., p17)
The Negro of the Antilles will be proportionately whiter – that is, he will
come closer to being a real human being – in direct ratio to his mastery of
the French language. (Ibid., p18)
But the black must be very careful because if his accent is not good the whites
will unmercifully will make a joke about him. The white has contempt for the
black. So with anything done by the black, the white’s reaction is severe and
humiliating. Because of his superiority, he legitimizes his behavior toward the
black and doesn’t feel that this is bad or wrong. The black feels afraid and
exhausted because he is not able to speak the French language perfectly, and
always tries to deny the idea that the black cannot spell the “R” letter properly,
that he is the “R-eaten.” He goes to great effort to prove the falseness of this
idea.
Dealing with the language expresses how man views the world, so the way that
the black deals with the language expresses him. The black disowns his
language - “Creole”- and as long as he knows the French language he despises
his own language. That is because the language is a symbol of a culture and the
homogeneity that exists within the community but which actually doesn’t exist
in the black society. The adaptation of the French language is the result of
stagnation of the original culture.
It (the language) means above all to assume a culture, to support the

weight of civilization. (Ibid, p17)
Every colonized people- in other words, every people in whose soul an

inferiority complex has been created by the death and burial of its local
cultural originality, finds itself face to face with the language of the
civilizing nation; that is, with the culture of the mother country. The
colonized is elevated above his jungle status in proportion to his adoption
of the mother country’s cultural standards. He becomes whiter as he
renounces his blackness his jungle.” (Ibid., p18)
Another reason for the black’s attention to knowing the language is that from his
childhood he was taught to neglect or denigrate his own language. For example,
in the Antillean milieu, the middle class doesn’t speak Creole except to the
servants, and that language is forbidden among that class, while on the other
hand, the one who speaks French fluently is considered very remarkable and
commendable among his community.
Nothing of the sort in the Antilles. The language spoken officially is

French; teachers keep a close watch over the children to make sure they do
not use Creole. (Ibid., p28)
Fanon describes the behavior of the black man who studied in France, and his
reaction to his community when he returns; he thinks that he becomes a new
man to the extent that he has forgotten his language. When he returns back, he
becomes superior to his friends and family. He had changed radically as if his
genetics have been changed.
There is the newcomer, then. He is no longer understands the dialect, he

talks about the Opera, which he may never have seen except from a
distance, but above all he adopts a critical attitude toward his compatriots.
Confronted with the most trivial occurrence, he becomes an oracle. (Ibid.,
p24)
This behavior according to which one despises his own race and community is
mostly found among the educated and is shown through their appearance,
consumption habits, and behavior generally.
The fact that the newly returned Negro adopts a language different from
that of the group into which he was born is evidence of a dislocation, a
separation. Professor D. Westermann, in The African Today (p331), says
that the Negroes’ inferiority complex is particularly intensified among the
most educated, who must struggle with it unceasingly. Their way of doing
so, he adds, is frequently naïve. The wearing of European clothes, whether
rags or the most up-to-date style; using European furniture and European
expressions; using bombastic phrases in speaking or writing a European
language; all these contribute to a feeling of equality with the European
and his achievements. (Ibid., p25)
The black tries to become closer to the white through his education and
intelligence, but this does not make him acceptable to the white man.
If philosophy and intelligence are invoked to proclaim the equality of

men, they have also been employed to justify the extermination of men.
(Ibid, p29)
Some of the whites deal with the black as if he were a child, and the whites
speak the pidgin language to them. Talking to them within their own language
means the white is going down to their level, and that angers the Negroes.
To speak pidgin to a Negro makes him angry, because he himself is a

pidgin-nigger-talker. But I will be told there is no wish, no intention to
anger him. I grant this, but it is just this absence of wish, this lack of
interest, this indifference, this automatic manner classifying him,
imprisoning him, primitivizing him, decivilizing him, that makes him
angry. (Ibid., p32)
So the language can give an idea of the behavior of the alienated.

---------------------------
The woman of color and the white man:
The black woman is sealed, confirmed in her love of the white man. She thinks
that this is really the authentic love, but this is not true because it is the result of
an inferiority complex; all that love is attached to the epidermal hue of the white
man. Although she recognizes very well that the white man doesn’t respect her,
or even think of her, and that although she may be a friend he will never deign
to marry her, she continues her adoration of him. She continues calling for his
acceptance and attention.
The black woman is naïve in her view of both the white and the black man.
Fanon comments on Mayetta Capecia and her account of her life, which in his
view shows clearly the relationship between the black woman and the white
man. Mayotte is a woman who wants to get rid of her blackness in any way, but
not to be black.
Mayotte loves a white man to whom she submits in everything. He is her

lord. She asks nothing, demands nothing, except a bit of whiteness in her
life. When she tries to determine in her own mind whether the man is
handsome or ugly, she writes, “All I know is that he had blue eyes, blond
hair, and a light skin, and that I loved him.”3 (Ibid., p42)
The black woman always dreams of the white man regardless of what he is; the
most important thing is to have white skin. Her marriage to a black man means
3
Quoted in Mayotee Capecia, Je suis Martiniquaise (Paris, Correa, 1948), p202
to be inferior. So she thinks of her relationship to the white man in terms

dictated by her relationship to the black man, which is tainted with inferiority.
The black woman means nothing to the white man, just an entertainment.
Mayotte loves a man called Andre, and she comments on his behavior toward
her:
It was no good his explaining to me that his private life was something
that belonged to him alone and that his social and military life was
something else.”4 (Ibid., p43)
Fanon also comments on her childhood, and tries to relate her adult behavior to
the background of her childhood.
It would seem indeed that for her white and black represent the two
poles of a world, two poles in perpetual conflict: a genuinely
Manichean concept of the world; the word has been spoken, it must be
remembered- white or black, that is the question (Ibid., p45)
“From the first this is how the problem appears to Mayotte- at the fifth
year of her age and the third page of her book: “she took her inkwell out
of the desk and emptied it over his head ”5. This was her own way of
turning whites into blacks. But she quite soon recognized the futility of
such attempts; and then there were Loulouze and her mother, who told her
that life was difficult for a woman of color. She could no longer try to
blacken, to negrify the world, she was going to try in her own body and in
her own mind, to bleach it. (Ibid., p45)
Mayotte couldn’t assimilate the fact of her blackness, and she tries to justify it as
she knew that her grandmother was white.
I found that I was proud of it. I was certainly not the only one who had
white blood, but a white grandmother was so ordinary as a white
grandfather. So my mother then was a mixture? I should has guessed it
4
Ibid., p150
5
Quoted in Mayotee Capecia, Je suis Martiniquaise, (Paris, Correa, 1948),p 45
when I looked at her light color. I found her prettier than ever, and
cleverer and more refined. If she had married a white man, do you
suppose I should have been completely white? …. And life might not
have been so hard for me? I daydreamed about this grandmother whom I
had never known and who had died because she had loved a colored man
of Martinique…”6 (Ibid, p47)
The black woman means nothing to the white man, and if she becomes pregnant,
the white will never confess that he is the father of the baby. Rather he will
consider that he has done something good for her. As Andre told Capecia: “You
will bring him up, you will tell him about me, you will say, he was a superior
person .You must work hard to be worthy of him.”7 (Ibid., p52).
The mulatto woman behaves in such a way as to assert that she is white and not
black, but her behavior is similar to the black woman.
There are two such women: the Negress and the mulatto. The first has
only one possibility and one concern: to turn white. The second wants not
only to turn whites but also to avoid slipping back. What indeed could be
more illogical than a mulatto woman’s acceptance of a Negro husband?
For it must be understood once and for all that it is a question of saving
the race. (Ibid., p55)
Also Fanon argues about a woman called Nini who is mulatto. A Negro called
Mactar has asked to marry her, a very good man, and Nini of course won’t
accept a Negro. Because he dared to ask her for marriage, he should apologize,
she believes. He insults her. She will punish him, and may take that to the court
and he may be punished. (See Fanon1967, p55-56)
Fanon comments on the naivety of the black woman, and also that she has no
dignity:
6
Ibid., p59
7
Ibid., p185
Every time I have made up my mind to analyze certain kinds of behavior,

I have been unable to avoid the consideration of certain nauseating
phenomena….It is always essential to avoid falling back into the pit of
niggerhood, and every woman in the Antilles, whether in a casual
flirtation or in a serious affair, is determined to select the least black of
the men . Sometimes in order to justify a bad investment, she is compelled
to resort to such arguments as this: “X is black but misery is blacker…”
They (the woman of color) have consented to run this risk; what they must
have is whiteness at any price. For what reason? Nothing could be
simpler. (Ibid., p49)
-------------------------------------------
The man of color and the white woman
Fanon comments on the story of Jean Veneuse as an extreme case, a black man
who lived in a white community from his childhood as an orphan. His parents
left him in order that he might be a white man. He suffered much in his
childhood as an orphan whose parents thought that his existence in this
environment would make him a Frenchman. He was lonely, attempting to be
involved with the white community, which accepted him as “White”. But he
couldn’t or didn’t trust in that because he was black; there was always fear: fear
of being rejected at any moment, fear of everything. He became an introvert,
with his books.
Unable to be assimilated, unable to pass unnoticed, he consoles himself by

associating with the dead, or at least the absent. (Ibid., p65)
It is in the roots of his soul, as complicated as that of any European, that

the doubt persists. (Ibid., p66)
He does not understand his own race, and the whites do not understand him.
And he observes, “The Europeans in general and the French in particular, not
satisfied with simply ignoring the Negro of the colonies, repudiate the one
whom they have shaped into their own image.” 8 (Ibid., p64). Although he
8
Quoted in Un homme pareil aux autres (Paris, Editions Arc-en-Ciel, 1947), p11
assimilates the European culuture , and also through his hard work to be a
European man, he is unable to escape from his race.
This Negro who has raised himself through his own intelligence and his
assiduous labors to the level of the thought and the culture of Europe”9 is
incapable of escaping his race. (Ibid., p67)
Jean Veneuse believed in that culture and set himself to love this new
world he had discovered and conquered for his own use. What a blunder:
“and conquered for his own use.” What a blunder he had made! Arriving
at maturity and going off to serve his adopted country in the land of his
ancestors was enough to make him wonder whether he has not being
betrayed by everything about him, for the white race would not accept
him as one of its own and the black virtually repudiated him.”10 . (Ibid.,
p67)
Jean fell in love with a woman called Andree Marielle who was the daughter of
a white poet. She confessed her love to him. The white community accepted
him as one of their own and prompted him to look with contempt on his own
race and his own native island. As Coulange wrote to Jean
“You have nothing in common with real Negroes. You are not black, you
are extremely brown”11. But Jean Veneuse does not want this. He cannot
accept it, because he knows. (Ibid., p69)
Jean is considered an extreme case because he is aware of the dualism that

existed in the black man, and the bad image of the Negro that was created by
Europe. He lives in a European society that he really loves, he loves Andree, but
he is very aware that he is black and he doesn’t want to behave like the black
man toward the white woman. So he suffers a great deal.
In Jenese’ case we have four aspects:

1. His existence in a white society which accepted him.
2. His love and adoration for that society.
9
Ibid., p36
10
Ibid., p36
11
Ibid., p152-154.
3. His awareness of the role of the white in disparaging the black.

4. His awareness of the bad behavior of the black.
5. His awareness that his approach toward the white community is not pure
truth, because he is black.
He has no confidence, a lot of doubt, fear. He wants his lover Andree to insist
on and to repeat her avowals of love for him, because he can’t trust the white,
because he has no self-confidence
So this affects his behavior:

1. His existence in the white society makes him behave and live like them.
In all good faith, Jean Veneuse believed in that culture and set himself to
love this new world he had discovered and conquered for his own use”12
(Ibid., p67)
2. His love of that society makes him always want to protect his existence in it,
and always to prove he is civilized and intelligent like them; he wants the
whites’ satisfaction. He is a beggar. He looks for appeasement, for permission in
the white man’s eyes.
3. His awareness of the whites’ role in disparaging the black, makes him alert of
the white world.
I do not allow myself to be taken in by good will shown me, suspicious as

I am of this excessive cordiality that has rather too quickly taken the place
of hostility in the midst of which they formerly tried to isolate me.13
(Ibid., p79)
4. His awareness of the behavior of the black man makes him very alert not to
behave like them.
12
Ibid., p36.
13
Ibid., p79.
He knows that, “enraged by this degrading ostracism, mulattoes and

Negroes have only one thought from the moment they land in Europe: to
gratify their appetite for white woman.14 (Ibid., 69)
The majority of them (the black men), including those of lighter skin who
often go to extreme of denying both their countries and their mothers, tend
to marry in Europe not so much out of love as for the satisfaction of being
the master of a European woman; and a certain tang of proud revenge
enters into it. And so I wonder whether in my case there is any difference
from theirs; by marring you (Andree), who are a European. I may not
appear to be making a show of contempt for the women of my own race
and, above all. to be drawn only by desire for that white flesh that has
been forbidden to us Negroes as long as white men have ruled the world,
so that without my knowledge I am attempting to revenge myself on a
European woman for everything that her ancestors have inflicted on mine
throughout the centuries.15 (Ibid. ,70)
5. The fact of his blackness makes him unable escape from it, and on the other
hand to distrust the white, “an anxious man who cannot escape his body.” (Ibid.,
p65)
6. Because he is black he wants to escape from the white society, he feels so

tired of his internal conflict.
I will go to Africa: I do not wish to be loved and I will flee from love-
objects. I do not wish to be loved, I adopt a defensive position. And if the
love object insists, I will say plainly “I do not wish to be loved (Ibid., p75)
The confused feelings of Jean, the confused behavior which varies according to
circumstances, makes him feels that his existence has no meaning; he is useless,
worthless, meaningless. These feelings affect his behavior; he is isolated
because he cannot build a healthy relationship with himself and the environment
and the world.
Jean has a neurosis.
14
Ibid., p152-154.
15
Ibid., p 185
Dr. Guex analyzes two types, the first of which seems to illustrate the
plight of Jean Veneuse: “It is this tripod- the anguish created by every
abandonment, the aggression to which it gives rise, and the devaluation of
self that flows out of it – that supports the whole symptomology of this
neurosis 16 (Ibid., p73)
The lack of affective self-valuation is to be found only in persons who in

their early childhood suffered from a lack of love and understanding17
(Ibid.., p 76)
The first characteristic seems to be the dread of showing oneself as one

actually is. This is a broad field of various fears: fear of disappointing,
fear of displeasing, of boring, of wearing… and consequently of losing the
chance to create a bond of sympathy with others or if this bond does exist
of doing damage to it. The abandonment –neurotic doubts whether he can
be loved as he is, for he has had the cruel experience of being abandoned
when he offered himself to the tenderness of others as a little child and
hence without artifice.18 (Ibid., p78)
--------------------------------
Dependency Complex:
Fanon comments on a writer called Mannoni, who wrote a book about the
psychology of colonization, Prospero and Caliban: Psychology of Colonization.
Fanon criticizes his attempt to prove that inferiority existed before colonization,
to rationalize racism. However, Mannoni is a European man; his view about the
relationship between the colonizer and the colonized is superior, although he
tried to be objective and to emancipate himself from his superiority. In the end
he could not. And his proposal in one way or another strengthens or tries to
make the behavior of the European man acceptable.
He deals with the concepts of “civilized” and “primitive”, and he does not try to
explain why the latter is “primitive.” He argues from the features of the
relationship between the black and white and not the roots or the bases of that
16
Quoted in G. Guex, la Nevrose d’ abandon, ( Paris , Presses University taires de France,
1950), p13.
17
Ibid., p31-32.
18
Ibid., p39.
relationship, and he tries to justify this relationship. Also he believes that the
inferiority complex has nothing to do with colonialism.
Mannoni tried to prove the following:
Inferiority: To prove that inferiority has nothing to do with economic

conditions or colonialism, and he tries to separate the actions of persons from
the action of the nation.
European civilization and its best representatives are not for instance,
responsible for colonial racialism; that is the work of petty officials, small
traders and colonials who have toiled much without great success.19 (Ibid.,
p24)
Dependency complex: He argues that the black man is inferior and the white
man is civilized. The black tries to attain equality with the white, but he cannot
achieve that, because he is dependent on him, what he calls dependency
complex. (Ibid., p98)
The black cannot live without the white man. However he justifies the
superiority of the white from the need of the inferior black man for the white,
that it is desired and unconsciously expected. Mannoni applies his ideas to the
Malagasy, that he needs to be colonized , and so the existence of the Europeans
is desired
It becomes obvious that the white man acts in obedience to an authority

complex, a leadership complex, while the Malagasy obeys a dependency
complex. Everyone is satisfied. (Ibid., p99)
Mannoni relates the existence of the Malagasy by the existence of the European,
so there is no salvation , as he relates inferiority and dependence.
When he (the Malagasy) has succeed in forming such relations (of

dependence) with his superiors, his inferiority no longer troubles him;
everything is all right. When he fails to establish them, when his
19
Quoted in O. Mannoni, Prespero and Caliban: The Psychology of Colonization, (New York,
Praeger, 1964), p24
feeling of insecurity is not assuaged in this way, he suffers a crisis.20

(Ibid, p94).
Also the argues that he should not demand for equality between white and
black, because this will end up in inferiority complex
In other words, the Malagasy can bear not being a white man; what
hurts him cruelly is to have discovered first (by identification) that he
is a man and later that men are divided into whites and blacks. If the
“abandoned” or “betrayed” Malagasy continues his identification, he
becomes clamorous; he begins to demand equality in a way he had
never before found necessary. The equality he seeks would have been
beneficial before he started asking for it, but afterwards it proves
inadequate to remedy his ills- for every increase in equality makes the
remaining differences seem the more intolerable, for they suddenly
appear agonizingly irremovable. This is the road along which (the
Malagasy) passes, from psychological dependence to psychological
inferiority.”21 (Ibid., p98)
But Fanon contradicts him, trying to prove the opposite, that the individuals of
the state are responsible for the behavior of the state and that European
civilization and its representatives are responsible for racism. Fanon also
attempts to show that this racist relationship is the result of economic
colonialism.
“Francis Jeanson says, every citizen of a nation is responsible for the actions
committed in the name of that nation: Day after day, that system elaborates
its evil projects in your presence, day after day its leaders betray you,
pursuing, in the name of France, a policy as foreign as possible only to your
real interests but also to your deepest needs…..You pride yourselves on
keeping your distance from realities of a certain kind; so you allow a free
hand to those who are immune to the most unhealthy climates because
20
Ibid., p61-62
21
Ibid., p 84
they create these climates themselves through their own conduct. And if,
apparently, you succeed in keeping yourselves unsullied, it is because others
dirty themselves in your place. You hire thugs, and balancing the accounts,
it is you who are the real criminals: for without you, without your blind
indifference, such men could never carry out deeds that damn as much as
they shame those men.”22 (Ibid., p91)
Fanon aims to show that Racism is Racism.,
All forms of exploitation resemble one another. They all seek the source
of their necessity in some edict of a biblical nature. All forms of
exploitation are identical because all of them are applied against the same
“object”: man. When one tries to examine the structure of this or that form
of exploitation from an abstract point of view, one simply turns ‘back on
the major, basic problem, which is that of restoring man to his proper
place. (Ibid., p88)
It is not easy at this remove to see why Fanon wrote that chapter, as he tried to
show the European man is wrong in his analyses. Why did he go into this
controversy?
-------------------------------
The Fact of Blackness
This is the most poetic and interesting chapter:
“Dirty nigger”! Or simply. “Look, a Negro!”

I came to the world imbued with the will to find a meaning in things, my
spirit filled with the desire to attain to the source of the world, and then I
found that I was an object in the midst of other objects.” (Ibid., p109)
The triple consciousness:
Fanon tries to explain how the black builds his identity in relation to the white
(the other). Triple consciousness of the black is as follows: consciousness of his
own body- that is, a negating activity, consciousness of himself, and the white
22
Quoted in Francis Jeanson, « Cette Algrie conquise et pacifiee” (in Esprit, April, 1950), p
624
man – his approval or disapproval directed to the black man to prompt the black
man to be like him.
I could no longer laugh, because I already knew that there were legends,
stories, history and above all historicity, which I had learned about from
Jaspers. Then assailed at various points, the corporeal schema crumbled,
its place taken by a racial epidermal schema. In the train it was no longer
a question of being aware of my body in the third person but in a triple
person. In the train I was given not one but two, three places. I had
already stopped being amused. It was not that I was finding febrile
coordinates in the world. I existed triply: I occupied space. I moved
toward the other… and the evanescent other, hostile but not opaque,
transparent, not there, disappeared, Nausea…” (Ibid., p112)
--------------------------------
The Negro and Psychopathology:
The Negro suffers from inconsistency of how he is brought up within his family,
and when he becomes aware of the world
In Europe the family represents in effect a certain fashion in which the

world presents itself to the child. There are close connections between the
structure of the family and the structure of the nation. Militarization and
the centralization of authority in a country automatically entail a
resurgence of the authority of the father. In Europe and in every country
characterized as civilized or civilizing, the family is a miniature of the
nation. As the child emerges from the shadow of his parents, he finds
himself once more among the same laws, the same principles, the same
values. A normal child that has grown up in a normal family will be
normal man.” (Ibid., p142)
A normal Negro child, having grown up within a normal family, will

become abnormal on the slightest contact with the white world.” (Ibid.,
p143)
This division will affect the black in his behavior with the white, for what
happens really is that the Negro tries to get rid of this division, but he fails
because he chose the wrong way, that is, his involvement within the white issue.
The Antillean family has for all practical purposes no connection with the
national-- that is the French, or European--structure. The Antillean has
therefore to choose between his family and European society; in other
words, the individual who climbs up into society--white and civilized--
tends to reject his family--black and savage--on the plane of imagination,
in accord with childhood Erlebinisse. (Ibid., p149)
What am I getting at? Quite simply this: When the Negro makes contact
with the white world, a certain sensitizing action takes place. If his
psychic structure is weak, one observes a collapse of the ego. The black
man stops behaving as an actional person. The goal of his behavior will be
the Other (in the guise of the white man), for the other can give him
worth. That is on the ethical level: self-esteem. But there is something
else. (Ibid., p154)
The black tries to get rid of this division through his behavior. Fanon uses the
terminology of collective catharsis: “In every society, in every collectivity,
exists--must exist--a channel, an outlet through which the forces accumulated in
the form of aggression can be released.” (Ibid., p145)
This division the Negro tries to eradicate through his behavior toward the white.
He tries to prove to the white woman the truth of the myth that he is sexually
stronger than the white man. From that perspective he feels superior to the white
man; that is through the approval of the white woman. But in the end, he
becomes only a sexual entertainment to the white, and that actually keeps him
sealed in false consciousness, consciousness that he is on the same level and
even superior to the white man.
----------------------------------
The Negro And Recognition:
Fanon deals with the subject and object. Subject is the parallel (the opposite) to
subject. Object is the thing appreciated by the other: how the other views it. The
subject is the one that views the other entity.
Fanon tries to explain the relationship between the black and white through the
relation between the subject and the object.
Fanon analyzes the Antillean from Adler’s perspective:
The Negro is comparison. There is the first. He is comparison: that is,

he is constantly preoccupied with self-evaluation and with the ego-
ideal. Whenever he comes into contact with someone else, the question
of value of merit arises. The Antilleans have no inherent values of their
own, they are always contingent on the presence of the other. The
question is always whether he is less intelligent than I, blacker than I,
less respectable than I. Every position of one’s own every effort at
security, is based on relations of dependence, with the diminution of
the other. It is the wreckage of what surrounds me that provides the
foundation for my virility. (ibid., p 211)
Everything that an Antillean does is done for the Other. Not because
the Other is the ultimate objective of his action in the sense of
communication between people that Adler describes, but, more
primitively, because it is “The Other” who corroborates him in his
search for self-validation. (Ibid.,p213)
“The Antillean is characterized by his desire to dominate the other. His

line of orientation runs through the other. It is always a question of the
subject; one never even thinks of the object. I try to read admiration in the
eyes of the other, and if, unluckily, those eyes show me unpleasant
reflection, I find that mirror flawed. Unquestionably that other one is a
fool. I do not try to be naked in the slight of the object. The object is
denied in terms of individuality and liberty. The object is an instrument.
(Ibid., p212)
“ In effect, Adler has created a psychology of the individual. We have just

seen that the feeling of inferiority is an Antillean characteristic. It is not
just this or that Antillean who embodies the neurotic formation, but all
Antilleans. Antillean society is a neurotic society, a society of
“comparison”. Hence we are driven from the individual back to the social
structure. If there is a taint, it lies not in the “soul” of the individual but
rather in that of the environment. (Ibid. , p213)
The Martinican is a man crucified. The environment that has shaped him
(but that he has not shaped) has horribly drawn and quartered him, and he
feeds this cultural environment with his blood and his essences. Now the
blood of Negroes is a manure prized by experts. (Ibid, p216)
Recognition and Hegel:
Man is human only to the extent to which he tries to impose his existence
on another man in order to be recognized by him. As long as he has not
been effectively recognized by the other, that other will remain the theme
of his actions…it is that other being in whom the meaning of his life is
condensed. (Ibid, p217)
The human reality in-itself-for-itself can be achieved only through conflict

and through the risk that conflict applies. The risk means that I go beyond
life toward a supreme good that is the transformation of subjective
certainty of my own worth into a universally valid objective truth. (Ibid.,
p218)
Self-consciousness accepts the risk of its life, and consequently it

threatens the other in his physical being. (Ibid., p218)
---------------------------
By Way of Conclusion
Disalienation means going into the dialectic process, but this process doesn’t
progress, as long as one agent (European culture) controls the other one (black
culture). Disalienation means to make the dialectic process functions until it
ends. Alienation is found in the most educated people, so that they suffer a great
deal. That dialectic process is allowed to be active when one is conscious of

himself and has a clear definition of himself. This means the refusal of the
definitions of himself that were made by the other.
There are times when the black man is locked into his body. Now, “for a
being who has acquired consciousness of himself and of his body, who
has attained to the dialectic of subject and object, the body is no longer a
cause of the structure of consciousness, it has an object of consciousness23
(Ibid., p225)
Fanon calls for open consciousness and for freedom and self-respect which
consequently will lead to disalienation, and he ends his book thus:
I want the world to recognize, with me, the open door of every
consciousness. (Ibid, p232)
O my body, make of me always a man who questions. (Ibid., p232)
-------------------------------------
23
Quoted in Maurice Merleau-Ponty, la Phenomenologie de la perception, (Paris, Gallimard,
1945), p277.
The
State Classes
Group
The African
Continent
Individual
Europe Fanon aims to return to Europe its contradictions in
an inverse way.
The third Group

World
The
African The Classes
Continent State
Part 2 / Dualism 72
Abstract
Dualism:
Dualism as defined previously – derived from Fanon’s philosophy - is the

existence of two different, inverse trends or approaches within the same body,
resulting in a hesitant or hesitated body, contradictory in its behavior, with no
self-confidence and unable to make a change, a body in a stagnation status. This
section depends on that definition as advance by Fanon.
Fanon talked about many things displaying the division of the world as he
described the colonizer and the colonized from a cosmopolitism perspective and
as he described the internal mechanism of the colonized country. This division
leads to the alienation phenomena: feelings or the status of meaninglessness,
powerlessness, and rootlessness.
Dualism can be seen from Fanon’s reference to the divided character of the state,
which functions according to the colonizer’s concepts and marginalizes the
indigenous ones. The behavior of the state is alienated: it wants to have the
approval of the other (the colonizer) and at the same time it is unable truly to
negate its roots and philosophy. It results from the dualism of philosophy: two
different things. One is an activated one that is imposing its definition and
concepts, and the other is stagnated.
Also Fanon describes the alienated black man and his relation to the white man.
This results from the dualism of two cultures: the active and developed culture of
the white, and the original culture of the black, which is a rejected and stagnated
one.
So Fanon describes and shows alienation and dualism, the cause-and-effect

relationships and also the outcomes. The larger political view and the alienated
individual display the internal mechanism of the colonized country.
Part 2 / Dualism 73
There are many definitions of alienation, and so many explanations for it that
some scholars have asked that the term be discarded. But in this chapter it is used
as a descriptive term that shows and describes a situation, and it is not used as a
social or philosophical concept. This chapter concentrates on the concept of
Dualism.
It is essential to note that in Fanon’s work dualism is considered to be based on

the philosophy of colonialism and not on the philosophy of modernization,
industrialization, culture, or the rate of satisfaction. However, most scholars relate
alienation to these concepts, which can lead to confusion if these categories are
projected onto Fanon. So here we are dealing with a different causative agent or
framework. Fanon’s work must be viewed in this light.
How does the internal mechanism of the colonized nation function?
There are many parties involved. We must ask what is the role of each party
according to Fanon, and also what are his critiques of each one’s role in the
mechanism and in the creation of dualism.
Before colonialism there was a specific pattern of the nation in which there was a
system. There was a culture for the nation that was reflected in its economic and
political system. These factors achieved homogeny and harmony within the
society. Fanon however doesn’t talk about the pre-colonialism period in detail; he
starts from the colonialism phase. The aim here is mainly to indicate that the pre-
colonial condition is not dual, not governed by alien philosophies. There were
indigenous concepts – although simple - and there was privacy for the nation.
There was a system that worked for the benefit of the people as a whole and not
for the individual. In Africa the people were not conscious of the land, rather they
were conscious of the groups and as a result of colonialism they became aware of
the land. There were no classes but groups.
During colonialism the pattern and the structure of the nation were profoundly
affected by it. Colonialism in fact created a new structure of the nation; the
national structure being vulnerable according to the circumstances and also prone
Part 2 / Dualism 74
to the change according to the policies that the colonizer imposed. The polices
that the colonizer imposed on the colonized were reflected in the colonized’s
behavior after de-colonization. The colonizer rooted the capitalist system inside
the colony and inside the mentality of the colonized. Also the polices that were
used by the colonizer to impose a system based on the divide-and-rule concept
were reflected in the behavior of the colonized later on. Fanon describes the
situation from an economic perspective as he explains that the colonizer gave
privileges to one party more than the other, developed one region more that the
other, and each privileged entity strove to protect the privileges that the colonizer
gave. So the economy developed unevenly as did authority relations between
groups. As the colonizer chose the people with whom to negotiate, chose to deal
with the tribe or the group as an autonomous party, the colonizer give them
privileges and attention. So the structure and the way things interacted were
related to the reality that the colonizer imposed, and the colonized came to believe
in the authority and the control of the colonizer.
Fanon describes the relations inside the colony from a class perspective more
than from groups’ relation:
During colonialism:
Classes are not clearly defined because the colonized doesn’t possess anything,
everything being in the hands of the colonizer. Furthermore the colonized behave
as a reaction to the reality that the colonizer imposes. Dualism may be structured
in various forms; it depends on the general prevailing social structure, the
intensity of colonialism, and the consciousness of the people.
In this phase there are no clear features for the classes, because the colonized have
no authority in the state. Rather there are only indicators, and here there is a
vagueness in Fanon’s vision as he seems to consider the political party a class.
However, Fanon describes the leadership of the political party that continues to be
within the circle of the colonizer and aims for his approval. The political party has
no ideology or programs, and that is why its infrastructure is weak. Dualism is
structured within the political party as a small minority leadership tries to make a
compromise with the colonizer. That is the reason that the political party collapses
and ends completely in the neo-colonialism phase, because dualism is transferred
Part 2 / Dualism 75
to a larger scale, which is the nation. This creates two classes, the bourgeoisie
class and the masses.
Fanon argues that the philosophy of the political party is built according to the
Western concept of a political party, and it tries to take more rights, tries to adopt
Western concepts. It leads the nation toward a new philosophy that differs from
the original philosophy. Fanon sees that some people will emerge from the
political party and build a new one that marginalizes the original one and adopts
the concepts for the benefit of the nation. This new party should adopt the trend
of revolution and the armed struggle so as to impose an inverse reality, which
won’t be achieved except by force. If this does not happen--the emergence of the
new political party--dualism will be severe and the leadership will replace the
colonizer and behave like him.
Also the policies during colonialism stimulate the emergence of certain conflicts
according to the circumstances, conflicts between groups, tribes, parties, region,
and sometimes classes. As Fanon explains, the accumulated violence inside the
colonized will be released through the individual and group conflicts. These
conflicts will take their particular forms according to the circumstances.
Fanon does not differentiate well between the tribes and the peasantry class,
seeming to conflate the two, and also he contradicts himself as he describes their
characters; but the overall image that Fanon tries to show is that the masses (the
majority) are the honest and simple people, and they are always ready to struggle
against colonialism, but they need a leadership that directs them and makes them
aware.
Fanon considers the working class as a minority which has privileges and regular
work to protect them, but also here he does not differentiate clearly between them
and the bourgeoisie class: the colonizer exploits the colonized as a labor force,
whether in the field of agriculture, industries, or services.
Part 2 / Dualism 76
Post-Colonialism - The Neo-Colonialism Phase:
Fanon describes the relation between the bourgeoisie class--the minority--and the
masses, how the informal structure of this relation takes its role in the
management of the state. He calls for the clarity of the classes so a true dialectic
process will occur. He defined the bourgeoisie class as a class in this manner:
First, it is aware of its interests. Second, it possesses the economy through
possessing the posts of the nation that the colonizer left. Third, it does act
collectively. Finally, it strengthens its existence at the expenses of the masses, so
there is an exploiter class and exploited classes. In Fanon’s view of dualism, the
bourgeoisie wants to possess the state and considers itself the state and
marginalizes the masses. It appears clearly because it takes a political tack as it
possesses the economic mechanisms and the institutions of the state. Fanon
describes it very well: the features of this class, its behavior, and how that
behavior is reflected in the whole nation; each group tries to take more from the
state at the expense of other groups, a minority possesses the land and exploits the
peasantry, the workers try to exclude the workers from other nationalities so as to
control the market. This leads to horizontal and vertical competitiveness to exploit
the nation as much as possible--the same behavior as that of the bourgeoisie.
This class exerts corruption in the nation, its value system collapses, and this is
reflected amid the whole nation. The corruption is spread in the parliament, army,
and other institutions. These phenomena stimulate the emergence of the religious,
ethnic, regional, and tribal conflicts. The patron-client relations develop, but
Fanon doesn’t explain how the patron-client relationship actually function; he
rather shows that ethnic and tribal interests take their role in possessing the posts
and the mandates.
Fanon describes the nation as economically underdeveloped; the corrupt system

doesn’t aim to develop the economy of the nation but rather to strengthen its
authority in the nation. Because the roots of the ruling group are weak--it is in
the weakest condition of the Western bourgeoisie class--it adopts a dictatorship
system out of fear, as it recognizes that its existence is shallow.
Part 2 / Dualism 77
This class exploits the nation and tries to take mandates and posts, but the
possession of them leads to a group conflicts: conflicts resulting from the disputes
over wealth. Many scholars explain thoroughly the behavior of this class
elsewhere, closely matching Fanon’s description in the African context. This class
aims to achieve the approval and the satisfaction of Europe. First, it imitates
Europeans in their life-style so as to be close to them. Second, it tries to develop
sites inside the nation for their entertainment and pleasure. Its relation to Europe
makes the nation divided: the masses go in one trend and this class goes to an
inverse trend. Fanon criticizes this class as it uses “nationalism” to cover its
failure. This nationalism tends to be shallow, Fanon explains, for it is not oriented
within the people and expressing their ambitions and desires, but is used as a tool
to cover the failure of the bourgeoisie—which then justifies that failure by
blaming colonialism.
Revolution:
Fanon is a revolutionary author who seeks to destroy dualism through mental

emancipation from the colonizer, calling for consciousness.
According to Fanon, revolution should build the national consciousness, and this
occurs during the struggle phase against the colonizer so that in this phase the
colonizer is an ingredient in the whole process. Fanon specifically calls for social
consciousness, a native conscious only for the colonized without the involvement
of any external party. Social consciousness fails because the goals of the
revolution are not achieved and the colonized remain within the sphere of the
colonizer.
Fanon develops the concept of revolution and relates it to the development of

other phenomena such as leadership, violence, and consciousness. He aims not
only to destroy the exploitive economic system that the colonizer has build, but
also to destroy all the attendant structures - which include a backward culture,
aberrant politics, alien concepts and philosophy - so that the rejuvenated nation
may function as a whole, its parts interacting with each other correctly.
Part 2 / Dualism 78
Revolution aims to destroy dualism, to destroy the confused, blurred, and uneven
development of the nation. Fanon sees revolution as having a two-fold goal,
destroying the old system and building a new one. He sees violence as a necessity
which imposes the change. Fanon thinks differently from other scholars who
analyze revolution, as most of them relate revolution to the Western experiences
of revolution and others relate it to modernization. Fanon tries to create and call
for the protection of the culture of the nation and considers the concept of “one
voter, one voice” as a trap for those who think that this will cause emancipation.
Fanon concentrates on the rationalization of the revolution necessary for it to be

able to make a change, able to put a program across, able to create a social and
national consciousness, able to emancipate the populace from the philosophy of
colonialism.
Dualism is destroyed as the colonized populace activates and builds itself through
revolution and then by confronting the colonizer until the colonized possess the
nation. Here the nation is not only the land but everything in the nation. Here the
colonized get out from the sphere of the colonizer.
Revolution should make the leadership and the masses into one body, to destroy
all the classes, to destroy the weak infrastructure that the colonizer built and to
construct a new one which is not vulnerable. Revolution should get the colonized
out of the backward world that they have build for themselves because of their
inability to live with the colonizer – that is, the “escape world”, this narrow world
which created a shallow community.
The revolution should not allow the minority who are advocates to the colonizer
to control the state, which means it should not allow the bourgeois class to
emerge. Revolution should create self-realization for the nation. This will later
lead the whole nation to direct itself to build and develop its society without
allowances for, or the effect of, any external party.
Part 2 / Dualism 79
Chapter 4
Dualism – Alienation:
This part will discuss and treat in depth of the idea of dualism that Fanon talked
advanced. We shall see how Fanon views dualism and also how Western scholars
defined it. Furthermore we shall discuss a model that explains the results and
consequences of dualism.
Dualism is related deeply to the term “penetration” that resulted from the
philosophy of colonialism. Fanon in his book BSWM uses “alienation”
terminology as a descriptive term of dualism, as he diagnoses the psychology of
the black man. Also in his book The Wretched of the Earth he uses the word
“division” as he describes his vision of the Third World in relation to Europe,
treating that division from political, cultural, economic, psychological, and social
perspectives.
For example, dualism may be applied as follows:
1. The nation and classes: class alienation as he describes the two trends
within the society the bourgeoisie and the masses, each having a different
trend, so that the nation becomes powerless both internally and externally;
it doesn’t develop itself and is weak on the international level. So the
body is the state and the classes are the two trends.
2. Individuals and cultures: The individual has his own culture and
concepts. When he is affected by the European culture, it becomes a
second approach to life. He behaves dually, sometimes as a European and
sometimes as what he actually is. So the body is the individual – he is
affected by the European culture and his original culture.
3. Society and the value system: when a group is exposed to humiliation

and the negation of its culture and concepts, it will search for new values
which contradict the familiar ones conducive to stability and equilibrium.
So within the society there may be mafias, drugs, and also a society that
Part 2 / Dualism 80
governs by values similar to European ones. The body is the society; the
values are the two approaches
4. The colonizer and the colonized: in the state, the violence of the
oppressed is released internally and an internal conflict occurs within the
colonized community. In this case the body is the state, the colonized
groups form a trend toward self-destruction, and the colonizer form a
second trend that aims to control the state (body) as if the colonized does
not exist—while the colonized tries to behave as if the colonizer doesn’t
exist.
5. Economics: as Fanon describes the economy of the colony, he presents it

as a confused one. The colonizer possesses all the resources of the state
and uses the colonized to protect that system. Here the first party controls
the second one and directs it toward his own benefit, so the colonizer
control the body.
Most scholars have used the term “alienation” and not “dualism”. The Western
scholars describe the character of alienation, but they don’t get to the roots of
alienation. They don’t deal with it as cause and effect. Here are some of the
definitions of alienation:
Richard Onwuanibe defined it as, “ an extraordinary variety of psych-

social disorders, including loss of self, anxiety state, anomie, despair,
depersonalization, rootlessness, apathy, social, disorganization, loneliness,
atomization, powerlessness, meaninglessness, isolation, pessimism, and the
loss of beliefs of values.” (Onwuanibe 1983, p36)
Marvin Oslen defined it“as an attitude of separation or estrangement

between oneself and some salient aspect of the social environment.” (Oslen
1965, p202)
Irving Horowitz states that the “source of the word ‘alienation’ implies an
intense separation first from the object of the world, second from other
people, third from ideas about the world held by other people.” (Horowitz
1966, p231)
Part 2 / Dualism 81
Alienation is thus revealed as an ambiguous term. There are many controversies

concerning that term because of its ambiguity: is it an evaluative meaning?
Metaphorical meaning? Has no meaning, i.e. should be rejected? Is it a process?
Is it a changing state?1 Because of its wide use in various fields and works and
because of its vagueness some consider the term as an undesirable one, overused
in explaining the world’s evils.
Few concepts have been so readily invoked in common parlance and

serious works as the concept of alienation to refer to various
conditions, processes and experiences, Various disciplines have
appropriated the concept for their own ends, defined it according to
their specialized language, and attempted to verify it with their
particular methods. The concept has thus acquired numerous
meanings and has been invoked for so many “evils”. (Bulhan 1985,
p186)
I think it is only a descriptive term that for feelings or a situation of disability as a

result of various reasons and causes. We must concern ourselves with it because
the term dualism in not used in analyzing Frantz Fanon’s books; rather alienation
is used. Many scholars wrote how Fanon was affected by Hegel, Marx and others
regarding the term.2
Fanon used alienation to describe the cumulative effect of colonialism on the

colonized countries. His use of the term diverges from the norms of Western
scholars. In order to make it clear, I would like to comment on an article written
by Mervin Oslen in 1965, “Alienation and Political Opinion.” This article was
written long ago but it gives us a clear idea. Oslen says,
Expanding bureaucratic organization and role specialization, the argument

asserts, is tending to produce a heterogeneous, atomized, impersonal mass
society. The breakdown of extended kinship and stable community ties
leaves individuals without meaningful and binding social relationships.
Modern man thus increasingly becomes estranged from his society, his
community, his friends and his family. (Oslen 1965, p203).
1
See Overned (1975)
2
see Bulhan (1983), Horowitz (1966), and Hansen (1977) .
Part 2 / Dualism 82
Oslen used a representative sample, and employed the Scrole Scale3 to measure
alienation – alienation related to modernization and development. After making
his research relating alienation to various social characters, Oslen‘s results are as
follows:
1. Race: the Negro is much more alienated than the white.
2. Occupation: the lower the rank of occupation, the more alienation exists
among workers, peaking among the unemployed.
3. Education: the less the education, the higher the alienation.
4. Income: less income, more alienation.
5. Socio-economic status: According to the previous results Oslen says, “We
may assume that there is a general tendency for lower-status persons to feel
more alienated from society than persons with higher status.” (Oslen 1965,
p205).
He continues: “Since alienation is inversely related to socio-economic
status, one might expect that social status, not alienation, is the major factor
producing these observed differences.” (Ibid., p207)
Oslen deals with the situation of the individual and his relation to the accelerated
developing process that makes one feel unable to keep up with all these changes,
and its effect on human relations. The individual feels frustrated and unable to
control this acceleration. The more the individual is educated and the higher the
rank of his occupation, the less he is alienated. Also it is a measure of the
satisfaction of the individual toward the state. The more the individual can obtain
from the state, the less he is alienated; thus Olsen concludes that the socio-
economic status determines how much the individual is alienated.
Supposing there is a unified meaning of “alienation”, one not diverging sharply

from Oslen’s, the results of the research contradict that which Fanon proposed:
 The most alienated people are the educated people.
3
Leo Scrole (1965) “Social Integration and Certain Corollaries,” American Sociological Review,
21, 709-716.
A pattern of questions that the respondent agrees or disagrees with.
Part 2 / Dualism 83
 The more lower-income, the less alienated (the peasantry, the unemployed
and the lumpen proletariat).
 Occupation: the higher the rank of occupation, the more alienation,
because they have something to lose.
 Socio-economics status: inversely related; the better the individual’s
position within the state, the more he is alienated, because he has
something to lose.
The socio-economic system in the colonized country is structured by the

colonizer. The policy used in the mother country is a constructive policy whereas
in the colony a destructive policy. The standards that fit their society contradict
the standards that would fit the colonized country. Fanon says: “In
decolonization the last shall be first and the first last.” (Fanon 1963, p30)
Oslen treats alienation as a result of the lifetyle norms in America. It is also

related to the “satisfaction” of the individual with his status, or the “individual
consciousness.” The type of alienation that Oslen discusses and defines differs
completely from the type of alienation that Fanon explains.
The point which I want to concentrate on and emphasize is that we need to

be careful with concepts, their definition, and how much they are applicable
to the Third World.
Dualism- a studying model:
This body may be an individual, class, society, group, etc. It is the thing that
contains the two approaches to life and society.
(A) is the original approach, but it is in a stagnation status.
(B) is the incoming or nascent approach, and it is in an active status.
Dualism is a status, a confused state, not a process or a phenomenon. It is
furthermore subject to psychological, sociological, or political interpretation.
Part 2 / Dualism 84
Dualism--theoretically:
Approach A and Approach B In the body there are the two

approaches. The body is not in an equilibrium state because these are inverse
approaches, opposites, therefore creating a status of alienation, powerlessness,
separation, and instability of the body as a whole. This body will try to reach
equilibrium via one of three approaches: A and B stay within the same body, or A
tries to get rid of B, Or B ties to destroy A. This is explained as follows:
 (A + B):
Both A and B want to dominate the body through negating and destroying
each other, so the body is unstable. Each is unable to get rid of the other, so in
order to reach to an equilibrium state, we have two possibilities:
 This body is so unstable because both entities have power over the
body, so the body diminishes gradually, until it comes to an end or
becomes very weak.
 One of the approaches--usually Approach A--tries to find or creates
within itself a new approach, becomes very close-knit in itself, and
puts itself in a circle within the body, one which fits its situation
and provides it with stability. It exists as if the other does not exist,
and so the other approach actually controls the body.
 Approach (A): Approach A dominates the body:
This approach by itself and from itself activates itself, escapes its
stagnation status, and tries to get rid of B. If it succeeds, then the
body is no longer dual. Usually this occurs through a completed
dialectic process, ending with the control of the body by the
original one, A.
 Approach (B) Approach B--the unoriginal one--tries to control the body:
To destroy Approach A completely. It may diminish it and weaken

it but not eradicate it completely. Were it to do so, then the body
would collapse, because the first approach is the original one,
rooted in the body
Part 2 / Dualism 85
Chapter 5
Dualism and Value System:
“The archetype of the lowest values is represented by the Negro.” (Fanon 1963,
p189)
In this chapter I would like to relate dualism to the value system of the society.
This chapter discusses two types of value system, one which is self-destructive
and the other which is self-protective. The former results from the state of
alienation. The latter results from two things: first, the adoption of the value
system according to the other, and also it results from deprivation. As Fanon the
Third World behave like starving creatures.
Fanon’s proposal contains a plethora of ideas and concepts as he intends to
advance his world-view, but he does not really go into detail on every one.
Self-destruction: As he explained the second phase of violence, he described that

the colonized would build a world around themselves as if colonialism did not
exist. This world may be a self-destructive one: it may result in conflicts and
disputes between individuals and groups and/or the collapse of the value systems.
Fanon did not talk about the collapse of the value systems of the masses, but he
talked about the bourgeois value systems in the neo-colonialism phase and how
they were reflected in the state, which causes the emergence of tribal, regional and
religious conflict that may also cause self destruction.
Fanon talked about two kind of consciousness: social consciousness and national
consciousness, and two kinds of conspiracy: social and national.
Social conspiracy is when there is social consciousness and the trend or behavior
goes against that consciousness, and the same is applied to the national conspiracy
in relation to the national consciousness.
The colonizer aims to penetrate the colonized so as to disable the latter from
confronting him. It destroys its value system. So the values that govern the
Part 2 / Dualism 86
colonized became different from the time-honored values that are well known in
the world, such as honesty, justice, etc. For example, the alcohol, the drugs, the
mafia, and crime that exist within the colonized community will prevent the
formation of a unity that is directed against the colonizer. The value social
system collapses. This is obvious in the African countries that are involved within
the “neo-colonialism” phase. Here it is not conspiracy because there is no social
or national consciousness.
Fanon argues that revolution builds national consciousness, and during revolution
the colonized must have clear vision and targets, must have a social and
economic program so that after decolonization there will be no vacuum in the
process of nation-building. Such a vacuum allows the bourgeois class to appear.
This vacuum allows the informal relations to overcome the formal relations, and
the continuation of colonialism.
According to Fanon the revolution creates an ideal value system in the colonized
community as they fight against oppression. Revolution builds national
consciousness which should create a social consciousness. The national
consciousness is related to the Other--the oppressor--but the social consciousness
is related to the self, to the construction of only the self. It has distanced itself
from the colonizer, and if it did not do so, it would remain within his sphere.
The collapse of the value system leads to self-destruction and it can be measured
within the community through the spread of the following: violence, crime,
alcohol, drugs, and firearms use. For example: the consumption of alcohol in the
African states is very high, and most of the murders and bad behavior are
accompanied by the use of it.4 As Chabal comments:
This growing internalization of domestic violence becomes

instrumentalized in different criminal ways. The movement of vast numbers
across borders provides boundless opportunities to expand and consolidate
networks throughout the continent. Perhaps the most spectacular example
here is South Africa which, in a matter of the few years since travel
restrictions have been lifted, has become by far the largest transit area for
4
For example, more than 70% of the Black Americans murderers use alcohol regularly. See Bulhan ,
p 44-53.
Part 2 / Dualism 87
the most notable criminal activities, from drugs to illegal weapons. In this
respect, at least, South Africa had rapidly been “colonized” by the rest of
Black Africa. There are now throughout the continent covert networks
which operate more smoothly and efficiently than most governments and
strengthen thereby the links between formal and informal politics. (Chabal
1999, p88)
Another case of the collapse of the value system, but in different style, is in the
situation in which national and social values collapse, such as after decolonization,
when the bourgeoisie take over power. Fanon describes the situation:
There exists inside the new regime, however, an inequality in the

acquisition of wealth and in monopolization. Some have a double source of
income and demonstrate that they are specialized in opportunism. Privileges
multiply and corruption triumphs, while morality declines. Today the
vultures are too numerous and too voracious in proportion to the lean spoils
of the national wealth. The party, a true instrument of power in the hands of
the bourgeoisie, reinforces the machine, and ensures that the people are
hemmed in and immobilized. The party helps the government to hold the
people down. It becomes more and more clearly anti-democratic, an
implement of coercion. The party is objectively, sometimes subjectively, the
accomplice of the merchant bourgeoisie. In the same way that the national
bourgeoisie conjures away its phase of construction in order to throw itself
into the enjoyment of its wealth, in parallel fashion in the institutional
sphere it jumps the parliamentary phase and chooses a dictatorship of the
national-socialist type. (Fanon1963, p138)
In this scenario, the bourgeoisie imitate the European bourgeoisie in life-style only. It
only consumes at a high rank and quality at the expense of the masses. The collapse
of the value system differs from that mentioned above. The supreme value revolves
around matters such as how one can obtain more privilege, power, and wealth from
the state.
The realistic theory is applied very well in the internal relations within the bourgeois
class. This case it is not self-destructive but rather it is nation-destructive. Here Fanon
consider that this is a social conspiracy because the exploitation occurred by and
Part 2 / Dualism 88
within the nation. I contend that it is both, because the personal benefits overcome
the national benefits, so it is also a national conspiracy.
Dualism regarding the value system is structured when the colonized build a
system as if colonialism does not exist. If it is self-destructive, it will erode from
within and by itself as it tries to build new concepts that which do not confront
the colonizer. It is as if one had tried to create another world. Furthermore,
when the value system of the ruling class collapses, it functions so as to exploit
the nation and to suppress the masses as it aims to possess the nation. If the
value system of both collapses, then the nation will erode by itself.
Joseph Pistone’s book, Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia discusses
the value systems of the Mafia: what are the norms and standard that governs the
overall pattern? What are the values that structure the system? It shows a self-
destructive value system. It shows the possibility of the co-existence of two
communities with inverse values, and how each creates its own structure and internal
homogeneity. This book shows how the Mafia operates, the indifference of the value
system that controls both societies: the “ Mafia Society” and the “Original Society” in
the U.S.A. Admittedly this is an extreme example, but as such it aids clarity.5 This
5
The mafia is correlated. It consists of Families (groups) that are found everywhere, and
they are correlated with each other so that they form a large society. That society
becomes the opposite of the original one, the good and the bad. However, harmony exists
in both of them and each has its own way of life or style.
Joseph worked with the FBI, living under cover in the Mafia for six years from 1976 till
1981. He worked so as to discover the machinations of the Mafia and its personnel, with
the result many Mafiosi were apprehended, tried, and jailed.
What is so interesting about that book is that it is written by a person who was taught the
good values, and he then analyses the “no-good values” from the good-values
perspective. Another advantage is that he lived within Mafia on a day-day basis, so his
insight is deep. “It was a quick glimpse into society when you’re not playing by ordinary
values” (Pistone 1987, p.44)
In the normal society the child is taught the good values such as honesty, law, justice,
and humanity, and the child is developed so as to be something good: lawyer, architect,
artist, etc. He also is taught to be good to his family, government, and employer.
Conversely the child who is born in a Mafia environment is taught the opposite values,
like stealing, lying, hitting, illiteracy, etc. These values are developed within this child as
he grows up, and when he is aware of the Mafia, he works so as to have a high rank in it,
asserting its values in a manner which gives him a high rank and power in his community.
When I first met Jilly (one of the Mafiosi), he wasn’t made (to be an active member
in the Mafia). Nobody in that crew was. He told me he had grown up in Brooklyn,
Part 2 / Dualism 89
had been stealing all his life. His dream was to get made, become a true member of
the Colombia family (Mafia). (Ibid., p76)
In their society there is respect, hierarchy, and loyalty to power, but these values are applied
inversely to the application of the original society.
No one, no organization, no other Mafia family can encroach on the turf of a made
guy without permission. He can’t be touched. A Mafia protects its members and its
businesses. Your primary loyalty is to your Mafia family. You are elevated above the
outside world of ‘citizens.’ You are like royalty. In ethnic neighborhoods like Jilly’s ,
nobody has more respect than a made guy. A made guy may not be liked, may even,
but he is always respected. He has the full authority and power of his Mafia family
behind him. (Ibid, p 77)
Lying and changing the facts in an indirect way are essential in their life-style:
So you never told anybody the whole story with money. If you made $100,000 on a
score, you might tell your captain you came out with $80,000. That was the standard.
It goes that way right up the line. That’s why nobody totally trusts anybody (Ibid.,
p79)
The mentality of these guys is: Once a snitch, always a snitch. (Ibid.,p 80)
The Mafia has its own concepts, related to how much a man adopts the bad values and
protects them from the good values perspective.
The thing is even though it’s a fake world for you as an undercover agent, it’s a real
world for the people you‘re dealing with. And you have to abide by the rules in that
world. And those rules include how you establish your own standards, credibility,
and individuality. I know one or two guys that drank or did drugs while they were
undercover just because they thought they had to do that to blend in or show they
were tough guys. It was an enormous mistake. You can’t compromise your own
standards and personality. Smart wise guys will see right through your act. You look
like somebody that has no mind of his own, hence no strength. (ibid., p95).
Furthermore they assign no value to the human being as such, whether in their personal
relationships or competitive relationships: Killing, hitting, is normal for them. Pistone
describes an occasion when he was with a group, one of whose members, Vinnie, collapsed:
All of a sudden Vinnie falls down on the floor, gasping for breath and grabbing at his
chest. “Hey, you guys,“ I say, “Vinnie’s got a problem.” Nobody moves. They keep
playing cards. Vinnie is grasping and grabbing, and still nobody moves. “He’s having
a heart attack!” I scramble over to him. “We gotta get him to the hospital! Come on,
so nobody help me with him!” “Aw, he does that all the time,” one of the guys says.
“He’s just having one of his regular attacks. Let him pop a few pills, he’ll get over
it.” This was one of the situations that often came up where I wanted to fit in with the
badguys, but I still had my own sense of morality. (ibid., p66)
There is no security, nobody trusts anybody, and there is always fear. Most of the men are
uneducated, illiterate.
The Mafia is not primarily an organization of murderers. First and foremost, the
Mafia is made up of thieves. It is driven by greed and controlled by fear.
It wasn’t the toughness of an individual that caused the fear so much. It was the
structure. It was the system of hierarchy, rules, and penalties that can terrify the
toughest wiseguy in the business. The more potent toughness is in the ability to
enforce the rules (Ibid., p115)
You never take it for granted that somebody trusts you (ibid., p53)
You could never relax with these guys, because you never knew what would be
heavy-duty and what would be light.” (Ibid., p110)
They maintain their own lifestyle in ever day-day life. Pistone describes an incident in a bar
with a man named Mirra:
Part 2 / Dualism 90
book is good as it shows two extreme value systems and can give an idea about the
value shifts in colonized countries which are subject to violence, murder, and
robberies.
This chapter concentrated on the value system, which structures the behavior and the
goals of various groups in the society. So the aims, goals, behavior, and the will are
determined by the value system.
Values are the commitments of individual persons to pursue and support
certain directions or types of action for the collectivity as a system and
hence, derivatively for their own roles in the collectivity. Values are, for
sociological purposes, deliberately defined at a level of generality higher
than that of goals, they are directions of action rather than specific
objectives, the latter depending on the particular character of the situation in
which the system is placed as well as on its values and its structure as a
system. 6 (Eckstein, p268)
In this vein, Fanon talked about the ruling class and explained how the value system
collapses, but he didn’t go in-depth about the self-destruction of the masses. Rather he
talked about self-destruction that results in internal violence between individuals and
groups, or the result of building a world of barriers. When the value system collapse
the society will be prone to violence and insecurity, and the individuals’ interests will
overcome the national benefit, which leads to the failure of building and protecting a
nation.
I was out bouncing with Mirra and a couple other wiseguys and their girlfriends.
About four in the morning we went for breakfast. Suddenly Mirra turns noxious with
the waitress, bitching about cold eggs and bad service. He cranks it up, getting
nastier, making a scene. Finally I say quietly, “Hey, Tony, it’s not her fault, she’s
doing the best she can”. That sets him off worse. He cleans across the table and says,
“You shut the fuck up. You don’t ever tell me what to say or not to say or how to
act.” “I don’t mean to Tony. I just thought maybe you could ease up on her.” Then he
launches into a tirade in front of everybody. “You fucking jerk-off. You‘re nothing,
you know that? You got no power, you got no say. You think that fuck Lefty’s gonna
protect you? You’re with me here, and you keep your fucking mouth shut if you want
to keep breathing.” I had to shut up because it was only going to get worse and go
totally out of control. So I say, “Tony, you’re right. I probably was out of line.” (ibid,
p136)
6
Quoted in Structure and Process in Modern Societies, (New York: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1960),
p172.
Part 2 / Dualism 91
Chapter 7
Dualism and Classes:
As we go in-depth with our exploration of dualism, we shall recognize that it is an

expression that shows how much the Third World is penetrated, and how much it
is vulnerable to structural change in various forms according to the circumstances,
as in Fanon’s assertion that “the nation is passed over the race, and the tribe is
preferred to the state.” (Fanon 1963, p121)
Before talking about how dualism is structured within the Third World countries, I
would like to comment on Fanon‘s proposal. There is much confusion and
deficiency in his proposal regarding the classes and their relationship with each
other. The weakness in Fanon’s proposal is due to three things: First: the neglect
of history, as he proposed something new that is unrelated to the roots and
development of the nation. Second: he was so much affected by Marx that he
excessively compared the experience of Europe with the very different experience
of Third World nations. Third: he confuses the two phases of the whole process of
emancipation. These three issues are central to the structure of Fanon’s
philosophy; hence his viewpoint is considerably weakened.
In this chapter I will address further the three things mentioned above so as to give
a comprehensive idea of the critiques of the overall vision of Fanon as a whole. I
will then define the term class and its ramifications, and then I will present the
structure of society before colonialism and indicate how colonialism changes its
structure gradually.
I will explain and describe the class system in two phases: the first is during
colonialism; the second phase is after decolonization, and the structure of society
changes markedly. Also, in this part I will discuss each group or class that Fanon
mentioned and to comment on each one.
Part 2 / Dualism 92
Critiques of Fanon:
1. Neglect of history: It can be argued that Fanon wanted to deal with a given
period of time in national life without regard to the actual process of history. Any
nation looking forward to its future should be in conformity with its own history
and not against it. Fanon criticizes the bourgeois class because it is the result of
another historical context. It resulted as a “caricature.” Also he criticizes the
political party because it is an imitation of the “European political party.” The
party collapses after independence because its core is not extended from the
historical development of the people of the nation.
So it is important not just to know the history, but the important thing is how we
should view history. History is not just an event, it is a continuous process, and its
events are very interrelated with each other. Marenin says,
Knowledge of the reality and potential of history, in turn demands a way of

knowledge. False and true depends on the validity of the method of which
history is correctly understood, and on the basis of which it is categorized.
(Marenin 1981, p5)
2. Fanon talks about two phases: 1. The nationalism phase, and 2. the social
phase. He appears to confuse them. His explanation is not clear, i.e. whether he is
talking about the first or the second phase at certain points in his discussion. This
is obvious in how Fanon deals with the political party. For example, if the nation
entered into the social phase without ending the nationalism phase, that is, through
accepting negotiation and compromise with the colonizer, this compromise allows
the creation and appearance of the contradictions inside the society. However,
Fanon talks about the political party without explaining in which phase he
describes it.
3. Fanon uses of the philosophy of Marx in a rigid way, and in this he opens the
door to severe critiques. This is obvious in Woddies’ reading of Fanon. Fanon
was affected deeply by Marx to the extent that he used Marxian philosophy in a
rigid way, trying to overcome blurring and unwanted complication, and
attempting to give each class (group) the characteristic of a class, building and
Part 2 / Dualism 93
calling for a class conscious, resulting in a dialectic process and eventual solution.
Critics such as Woddies have found this over-reliance formulaic.
The weakness in Fanon‘s analysis on such points – that is the failure to

analyze the anti-imperialist stand and the domestic change in various
African countries--arises from his lack of scientific method, from his
tendency to present a generalized and often brilliantly written picture which
is apparently meant to apply to all African countries (since he nowhere
refers to exceptions nor indicates the specific cases with which he is
dealing), but in reality, applies in all its particulars to no single African
country at all. (Woddies 1972, p38)
Also Perinbam criticizes the methodology of Fanon. He says that “ it is common

to criticize Fanon for his methodological delinquencies, and in most of his
writings sociological rigor is lacking. His logic is often faulty and his
contradiction is frequent. (Perinbam 1973, p427)
Fanon and Marx:
What strengthens Fanon’s proposal regarding his dependence on Marx is that

Marx’s philosophy is linked to the end of capitalism, and colonialism is the result
of capitalism, so there is an intersection between Marx and Fanon. So on the one
hand, there is something in common, while on the other hand there are differences
between the classes of the Third World and Europe: differences in the way they
emerged, differences in the extent of their clarity as a class, differences in their
behavior. Because of this the ideas of Marx cannot be applied rigidly on the Third
World. Fanon attempted to apply Marxian thought to the Third World as follows:
 Marx’s philosophy is from an economic perspective, and Fanon tries to

view the Third World and explain it from that perspective, but he could
not suppress the role of culture in determining the classes in the Third
World. This weakened Fanon’s proposal, as he failed to determine the
main factor of class formation. Forsythe says,
“Fanon’s treatment of the problem of racial and class conflicts was

essentially Marxian: and to the extent that he accepted the notion of
“economic determinism” he subsumed racial conflict under class conflict
Part 2 / Dualism 94
…Fanon found it very difficult to apply a strictly class analysis to the

racial categories.” (Forsythe1973, p163-165)
 The way Marx views classes: Fanon tried to have the same pattern within
the Third World:
1. The working class is parallel to the peasantry class, which is the

only and the most revolutionary class because it has nothing to
lose.
2. The lumpen proletariat is parallel to the workers in the urban area
who are an extension of the peasantry and who can be easily
attracted to the struggle against colonialism or be used against it.
Tony Martin explains,
This is essential for an understanding of Fanon on the

peasantry; he appears to consider the Lumpen proletariat as merely
an extension of the peasantry, its urban arm, so to speak. He refers,
for example, to “the landless peasants, who make up the lumpen
proletariat.” The significant role which he assigns to the lumpen
proletariat is partly masked by Marx-like rhetoric in which he
appears to denounce this classless element.” (Gibson1999 , p 9)
3. The bourgeois class is parallel to the classes who possess the tools
of production. Fanon uses the same dialectic process so as to end
the existence of the bourgeois class whereas Marx aims to end the
control of capitalism.
However, there are many similarities between Marx and Fanon: both of them
were concerned with the emancipation of humanity, and they view revolution as a
must to get rid of alienation. Marx dealt with alienation as he described the
relationship between the labor, the machine, and the community, but Fanon dealt
with it as a result of dualism. Their view of revolution was accompanied by a
dialectic process, and in this context Fanon called for consciousness so as to
create the character of a class, and hence a dialectic process would occur. Marx’s
proposal was against capitalism, whereas Fanon was against colonialism. The
difference is that colonialism is more comprehensive. It is not just economic
Part 2 / Dualism 95
exploitation; it includes race, culture, and state hegemony, for one state exploits
another state.
Fanon, following Marx, was not content merely to watch history unfold
itself. Both advocated an instrumental theory of action. As Fanon says in
words similar to those of Marx: “What maters is not to know the World, but
to change it.” Hating passivity, he remarked: “There comes a time when
silence becomes dishonesty.” Both Marx and Fanon tackled the
philosophical issue of determinism vs. indeterminism (free will)…In a
manner reminiscent of Marx’s famous call to the “workers of the world” to
unite, Fanon addressed himself to his brothers: “Youth of Africa! Youth of
Madagascar! Youth of the West Indies! We must, all of us together, dig the
grave in which Colonialism will finally be entombed. (Dennis1973, p1)
Fanon ‘s use of Marx’s philosophy helped him to have a vision of the Third World
as he specified the ruling classes and the masses, and also as he analyzed the
political party, but on the other hand, his rigid use of it weakened his proposal.
Class as a concept:
Consciousness - interest- collective act- exploiting and exploited
What are the features of a class, and if there is a class, should there be a
counterpart class? What are the types of classes that exist in the Third World?
How are classes defined in the Third World? What is the main factor of
determination, economics or society (social factor)? Is class specified and related
to the tools of production?. Should the class be the result of historical
development or it may be the result of an external effect?
This is very relevant to the confusion that surrounds the term “class.” For
Class represents an antinomy, as a dialectical concept should. On the one
hand, class is defined as a relationship to the means of production, and
hence, position in economic system, which is a world-economy. On the
other hand a class is a real actor only to the extent that it becomes class-
conscious, which means to the extent that it is organized as a political actor.
But political actors are located primarily in particular national states. Class
is not the one or the other. It is both, and class-analysis is only meaningful
Part 2 / Dualism 96
to the extent that it is placed within a given historical context (Wallerstein

1973, p 377).
Consciousness: The class, in order to go into a dialectic process, must be very

aware and conscious of itself, otherwise it will not go into this process. In the
Third World there is the poor class, but it is not conscious of itself as a class so as
to appear and function as a clear class. The class first appears as a social class, and
as it develops and becomes more aware of its interests and goals, then it takes a
political trend.
Consciousness means the awareness of its existence as a class, with the result that
this class can determine its goals and function collectively, especially under stress.
Stressful circumstances eliminate the blurred things that make sometimes the
classes not clear. The action will not occur through controversy, but the
circumstances sometimes make the situation mature to show the relations between
classes clearly.
Consciousness may be a “false consciousness”, defined as the consciousness that

is extended from “affection” and not “experience.” The result it that false
consciousness puts the group or class in a closed circle. The group (class) believes
deeply in it to an extent that it refuses to believe or see other things. The class
(group) may be aware of its interest although it is mistaken about what that is and
how to achieve it. False consciousness creates wrong recognition of reality, which
results in wrong behavior. As Marenin says,
“A class is not a class until it becomes aware of its common interests

counterpiosed against the common interest of other classes, and organized
consciously and purposefully to promote its interest by attempting to
overthrow that of which it is a part. A failure to become correctly aware of
this interest within the totality of social life is “false consciousness.” When
people subscribe to an ideology that is inconsistent with their material base
and therefore unwittingly respond to the call for their own exploitation, they
think wrongly and will not act. False consciousness conceals: the real
motive forces impelling [the individual] remain unknown to him, theories
yield wrong guideline and prevent man from adjusting himself at the
historical stage, and objective conditions themselves cannot reach their full
Part 2 / Dualism 97
maturity. False consciousness is a systematic misperception of reality and

the inherent potential for change…. False consciousness creates a wrong
understanding of the world and its requirements for action.’ (Marenin1981,
p3)
The depth of Fanon’s proposal is structured according to how he dealt with false
consciousness. There is a group (class) that is penetrated and has false
consciousness and, then there are those who have a simple consciousness but a
true one. Fanon tried to create or call for a true consciousness on the part of those
who have a false consciousness, and who by their true consciousness can develop
the simple consciousness of the other group (the masses.
Consciousness, regardless of whether it is true or false, creates and

determines the goals of the class, and it works to achieve its interests.
Class and economics:
In Europe the concept of class is related to the tools of production. Classes are
determined from an economic perspective and there must be an exploited class
and exploiting class. In the Third World, it is measured through the possession of
the posts and the mandates, because actually these are not industrial countries. As
Fanon describes the behavior of the bourgeoisie class, it aims to possess and
manage the institutions of the nation for its own interests. But the result will be
the same: exploiting class and exploited class. Fanon does believe that classes are
the results of economic phenomena.
The behavior of a specific class is determined through the gap between the
exploited and exploiting. As the gap increases, there is more stress on the
exploited class, and they are more vulnerable to a tendency to act collectively.
But what about the social factor? Wallerstein comments,
Nor is class-consciousness the only form of consciousness. Empirically, it is

obvious that within a capitalist world-economy ethno-national
consciousness is a far more frequent phenomenon than class-consciousness.
Furthermore, the interrelationship between class-consciousness is not the
Part 2 / Dualism 98
same in states located in the periphery as against the core of the world
economy” (Wallerstein 1973, p 378)
From a social perspective, classes may be groups on the same horizontal or

vertical levels. The social factor plays a role in determining the classes, e.g. the
race, which allows one “species” to exploit another kind of “species.” Also the
culture plays a role in determining the classes; it may blur the structure of the
classes. On the other hand it may be a determining factor for creating a clear class.
But these classes are related to economics, otherwise they will be group relations
and not class relations, which means they must be on a horizontal level of the
economic status.
Stages of class development in Africa:
I will discuss the classes’ structure before colonialism and during colonialism, the
struggle against colonialism and its effect on classes, the periods after colonialism,
and the neo-colonialism phase.
1. Before colonialism
Tribalism-peasants: Africa consisted of tribes. Each tribe had its own privacy in
its life. There was a mechanism for how each tribe functioned internally, and how
these tribes functioned with each other as groups but not as classes. So classes
according to Marx’s vision did not exist. There was an internal structure within
the tribe based on socialism. It was a society very related to nature; people
depended on land (agriculture) and hunting. Turnbull explains:
“It is obvious that each tribe, in a sense, by opposition to the next, and each
finds a source of pride in its individuality. This aspect of tribalism,
however, is far from being a cause of open hostility: rather there is within it
the means of establishing an even greater unity.” (Turnbull 1964, p28)
“The family concept is very evident in the traditional African economic

systems. Such systems are frequently only operable through the principle of
co-operation between families--again thus strengthening the political unit--
and are equally often directed primarily toward communal rather than
individual welfare.” (Ibid., p27)
Part 2 / Dualism 99
Many scholars deal with the African societies as classes and deal with the tribe as
a peasant class. However, this is prudent and they are not the same; the tribe has
its own system and the peasant class has its own features. Welch argues,
“Africa is a continent without peasants, so the conventional wisdom has

stated; the syllogistic reasoning runs as follows: cultivable land is relatively
abundant, at least in most parts of tropical Africa, resulting in a relative
absence of population pressures. Patterns of communal land tenure remain
the norm in rural areas. Hence given the absence of both pressures on the
land and individual land title, Africa lacks peasants--since there are neither
landlords nor rents to be collected. “Tribal” feelings of solidarity, it is
further asserted, preclude the emergence of the peasantry as a class cutting
across diverse groups. Finally, the absence in many parts of tropical Africa
of cities and structured in states meant that cultivators rather that peasants
were common…African peasants did not exist, historically, sociologically
and economically.” (Welch 1977, p1-3)
The tribes were not conscious of land. Consciousness of land appeared when they
realized the danger of the European existence and they related the land to the tribe
and not to the cultivators. As they recognized the land they didn’t allow the
emergence of the peasant class because it would emerge at the expense of
tribalism. Land-consciousness was related to the vision of the nation and not to
the peasant class. “Power was measured in terms of men rather than land
possession. Land control thus had little meaning of power and wealth.” (Ibid., p2)
So tribes are the main unit of the society in Africa, and a tribe is not a class; rather
it is a group or big family. The economics were not related to land, rather to the
possession of animals, which represents the wealth of the tribe. Power was
represented by men.
When colonialism (as an external force) arrived in Africa, it became involved in

all aspects of life because it came to Africa as a whole body, a kind of species that
has its own culture, language, rules, and philosophy. Its aim was economic, but all
these variables interacted with each other.
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Colonialism was a stimulus for the emergence of a semi-peasant class which

“tribalism” did not allow to appear in a clear way. Because in practical terms the
existence of that class means the suppression and end of tribalism, the appearance
of the peasants is the result of economic realities and not due to the development
the African society. “ The process of peasantization may be as much political as it
is economic and social.” (Ibid., p3)
The tribal society began to be affected by the colonizer’s powerful concepts and
ideas, and nationalism started to appear in the African societies. The emergence of
nationalism was considered as an inverse to tribalism, and the nationalists dealt
with tribalism as ethnicity, which they considered an obstacle to the development
of nationalism and the internal unity of the nation. Tribalism became associated
with backwardness, underdevelopment, and old traditions. “Tribalism became the
main challenge to nation-building.” (Fancis 1968, p 344)
Turnbull says,
“it is equally held, among Africans as among Europeans and Americans,
that tribalism is something backward, incompatible with the modern world
to say the least - and that is leaving a great deal unsaid, for tribalism is a
source of shame to some Africans and a subject of ridicule and scorn among
other people…”(Turnbull 1964, p22)
But actually tribalism was not bad, and it is not true that it is anti-nationalist.
As Turnbull comments about tribes,
“Far from being opposed to change, or opposed to nationalism, they

contain the very essence of the widest possible nationalism…The flexibility
of tribal systems gives them enormous adaptive power, enabling them not
only to accept change but also to further it, assisting new nations to unity,
not despite diversity, but through it.” (Turnbull1964, p23)
So Colonialism played a crucial role in structuring the concepts and visions of the
African countries, especially with regard to their future goals. They recognized
the land as a nation, but later they recognized that this is not true, the nation meant
more than just a land. They adopted Nationalism, and later they found that they
were unable to destroy tribalism. They adopted the concepts of classes and later
they were unable to go into class struggle.
The society gradually and through a long period of time was affected by
colonialism – which is related to capitalism. It imposed a system that did not fit
the system that already existed, and it did not end the old system (tribalism) but
rather did build a class system like Europe’s system. Tribalism stopped
developing whereas other things started to develop, which created an uneven
society. Colonialism stopped the development of tribalism and created a new
trend of workers, whether peasantry workers or low rank workers.
Welch says,
“ European plantation created a landless group--a rural proletariat--in some

areas. This impact was greatest in colonies with extensive white settlement.
Algeria, Kenya, South Africa and Zaire were among the territories in which
colonization and land alienation dealt severe blows to traditional access to
land. ”. (Welch 1977, p2)
It is obvious that Fanon was much affected by the history of the peasants in other
societies, that he dealt with them as the main factor (class) in the dialectic process,
and he did not give much attention to tribes.
The capitalist systems that developed in the world, and the development of
technologies, affected the entire Third World. They directed these societies
toward new trends of life that were at the expense of the traditional societies and
also stimulated a classes society.
Money penetrated the tribal society, it was used to obtain goods in stores, to
bribe officials, to accumulate riches, and in rare cases, even to hire laborers,
usually from other tribes. Money became the Trojan horse of the
motherhood imposed on tribal brotherhoods. Its intrusion into human
relations between Africans resulted in detribalization in the sense that some
individuals, in striving for it, left tribal areas, changed their way of life and
began to live in new supratribal communities; and in the sense that it
engendered the erosion of tribal cohesion and weakened the control of the
chiefs, elders, and extended family over individual members of local
communities. It accelerated the shift in agricultural economics from pre-
peasant tribal economics to more market-oriented peasant economics. It was
instrumental in the formation of an African working class selling its labor to
foreign entrepreneurs. (Chodak 1973, p410)
The colonizer became as ruling group and built a system for its own comfort and
wealth within the same community; it created the conditions for class formation.
The existence of colonialism imposed the European life style - in Africa.
However, it managed the state according to its own interest, resulting in chaos for
the colonized. The tribes were affected by the economic conditions that the
colonizer imposed in each region, creating internal divisions within the colonized
country. Some regions were given more attention than the others, which gave
some groups more privileges than the others, so it created stratified geographical
regions.
The colonized recognized that colonialism is something bad and an exploitive

system. In order to face it, with all the contradictions that colonialism created
within the colonized country, nationalism - that is, a Western concept - was a
necessity in order to face the colonizer with his own concepts, and not according
to the colonized’s concepts; especially tribalism was in a stagnation status, unable
to activate itself by itself and then to confront colonialism.
Furthermore, the Africans who studied in Europe and were affected deeply
worked in the development of African Nationalism. Nationalism was used as a
way for achieving unity within the society. But, we must not forget that is was the
result of adaptation and not the result of development. Because it was not
oriented in the philosophy of the Third World, it was misused. Miller explains
that “To acquire an education is also to be resocialized into a modern Western
orientation in which achievement and universal rational criteria tend to displace
ascriptive, particular, and traditional norms. (Muller 1963, p 528)
Fanon describes the ruling class as it manages the nation, and its misuse of
nationalism to lie to the masses:
For them (the ruling class) nationalism does not mean governing the
state with regard to the new social relations whose growth it has been
decided to encourage. To them, nationalism quite simply means transfer
into native hands of those unfair advantages, which are a legacy of the
colonial period. (Fanon 1963, p124)
So colonialism created a confused and blurred economic state within the

colonized community, which was reflected in culture , philosophy and behavior
of the society.
Struggle phase:
The process of struggle lessened the blurred situation that existed, and created a
unified trend toward ending colonialism and the exploitation system. This phase
was the way to the confrontation of colonialism. It was the beginning of the
revision and adjustment of the accumulated effects of colonialism and the way for
the emancipation from the false consciousness, but it did not complete the task
and the effects of colonialism remained.
The entrance into the struggle phase helped in facing colonialism and in
developing the consciousness of the people - the national consciousness- but not
the social consciousness. However, this phase did not end and the nation entered
into a new phase of colonialism, and the society reacted according to the new
changes and variables of the new phase. Then after the struggle phase most of the
nations obtained their independence in the ‘50s and ‘60s and they were affected
by the Cold War.
Neo-colonialism Phase
At the beginning of the Cold War, the Third World nations were involved so
much in the Cold War that it weakened them. Their reaction was according to the
international context and not according to the internal context of the nation. The
result was that their reaction to capitalism was socialism according to the
European concept. The nation marginalized the internal concepts and context and
adopted a new path not in keeping with their own philosophy. This weakened
their ideology and philosophy of emancipation and their own concept of The
Nation. The nations were affected by the capitalist concepts; on the other hand
they were against it because of colonialism, but the result was that they adopted
the socialist concepts but while continuing to evince capitalist behavior.
Chodak says,
“With colonial rule Capitalism also was transplanted into Africa. The
mentality, value system, and culture of the colonizers were those of the
capitalist society into which they had been born and belonged. Consciously
or unconsciously, they attempted to instill their own value orientation into
the minds of people whom they subordinated.” (Chodak 1973, p406)
Fanon criticizes the men who manage the nation and who give most of their
attention externally rather than internally. They are searching and seeking for
allies. This reflects the shallowness and the weakness of the nation.
The men at the head of affairs spend two-thirds of their time in watching the
approaches and trying to anticipate the dangers which threaten them, and
the remaining one-third of their time in working for their country. At the
same time, they search for allies. Obedient to the same dialectic, the
national parties of opposition leave the paths of parliamentary behavior.
They also look for allies to support them in their ruthless ventures into
sedition. (Fanon 1963, p60)
So the Third World continued within the sphere of colonialism but in different
form – which is the “Neo-Colonialism” phase. This phase also restructured the
African nations so as to be in conformity with this new phase. It directed the
efforts of the nation toward society-building but under the supervision of the
colonizer.
Many contradictions occurred in this phase. Tribalism returned. Regional

stratification existed. Some controlled the institutions that were previously
managed by the colonizer, and became the ruling class, which created a
counterpart class, the exploited class, the same class that was already existent, and
also the patron client relationships played their role in this new structure, as the
society restructured itself. Sklar says,
“There is a struggle against alien and racial domination. Typically,

leadership of the national independence movement is assumed by a national
bourgeoisie, which proceeds to exploit its newly acquired political power to
its own advantage. Then class divisions within the new nation are nakedly
exposed, leading to class conflict and, in time to reconstruction of society.”
(Sklar1962. p1)
So briefly, during colonialism the colonized people were used as workers, or

worked as peasants. The policies imposed on the colony did not give a chance for
the creation or the development of the economy of the colonized. In neo–
colonialism, a new social stratification appeared. So it is a blurred structure; no
clear features exist to determine how the movement inside the society functions,
everything is interrelated.
Fanon describes the bourgeoisie in the neo-colonialism phase as a tool to achieve

the colonizer’s goals:
The bourgeoisie’s mission has nothing to do with transforming the nation; it

consists, prosaically, of being the transmission line between the nation and a
capitalism, rampant though camouflaged, which today puts on the masque
of neo-colonialism. (Fanon 1963, p124)
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the victory of capitalism and the
development of globalization, a new trend in international relations took its place,
and the intensity of neo-colonialism increased and controlled the Third World.
The colonizer possessed all the economic resources, and also managed the colony
externally so as to supply and strengthen the economics of the mother country,
and this applied in all kinds of colonialism, but the last kind of colonialism played
a crucial role in suppressing the cultures; it was an economic and cultural
colonialism. Cultures started to be weaken and also became an obstacle for

involvement in the international context. Francis says that the “Cultural variety
and ethnic pluralism, which often had been praised as the boon and pride of
principalities, now came to be regarded as irksome obstacles to the efficiency and
prosperity of the state.” (Francis 1968, p3)
The conclusion is that colonialism did not end, and if we want to determine the
structure of the Third World from an economic perspective, we find that,
according to Fanon, the economy is a blurred economy and superior economy.
The result will be a blurred, chaotic structure and confused society.
Dualism: Dualism is structured in two forms:
1. During colonialism: The nation was affected by the European philosophy. The
result is that it helped the emergence of classes within the society in which there
were no clear features. On the other hand tribalism did not end and it functioned
within the society, but it became stagnated. So a society resulted which is neither
a tribal society nor a class society. It is a mixture with no clear features, in which
the trend of classes tried to suppress tribalism. Chodak says,
“The basic body of contemporary African societies is still tribal. The

traditional ranking and stratification order in these tribal societies still
operates as in the past, albeit, nowadays it becomes increasingly more blurred
and its importance is in decline.” (Chodak 1973, p411)
The educated group worked so as to end tribalism as they considered it something

bad and that it expressed backwardness and conflicts. They adopted nationalism
as a contradiction to tribalism. They thought that nationalism was due to unity.
However, They adopted the bad image of tribes and became alienated from it and
took it for granted.7 Nationalism was a mask that covered all the blurred and
conflicted situations that existed in Africa so as to deal with the colonizer.
However, dualism is structured as they tried to suppress tribalism.
7
See Chodak (1973), p411-413.
2. After decolonization and the appearance of the ruling class:
The nation (state) is the body, the poor are the counterpart class (populace or
masses). Dualism is structured through the ruling class (the minority). It acts in a
manner so as to strengthen its socio-political status, and to suppress the poor class.
It acts in a way so as to control the nation to such an extent as to be the nation in
itself. Robert Fatton‘s writings give clear vision of dualism after decolonization.
The ruling class challenges the state. It adopts the dictatorship system to impose
its existence. It imposes a reality by violence.
Class power in Africa is fundamentally dependent on state power.

Capturing the state is the best and perhaps exclusive means for acquiring
and generating the material wealth necessary for becoming a ruling
class…State power provides the fundamental opportunity to build class
power in a context of great and increasing scarcity. Not surprisingly, once
an incipient ruling class takes over the state, it monopolizes it for its
exclusive material and political gain and uses it for the violent exclusion of
potential rival groups. (Fatton1988, p254).
The non-hegemonic character of African ruling classes impels them to

seize state power as the means of constructing their class power. The
fusion of state power and class power precludes the development of the
political space required for the crystallization of compromises between
dominant and dominated classes. (Ibid., p257)
Fanon and Classes and Groups:
Fanon speaks about various factors that have a role in the mechanism and the
relations between classes. Each one will be discussed alone:
1. Political Party:
Fanon deals with the political party as a class, and the peasantry as its counterpart
class. I think Fanon confused the leadership inside the political party and the
political party itself. The political parties consist of all the people of the nation
(peasantry, workers, educated, the illiterate, tribes, etc.) and not just the
bourgeoisie. It is not logical that the political party constitutes 1% of the

population. The political party – or the emancipated movements--expresses the
approaches and trends that exist within the society, and tries to attract as much as
possible all the trends that exist so as to strengthen its legitimacy. The political
party is an expression to the unity of the nation and through that unity it tries to
emancipate.
Fanon deals with two cases regarding the political party: One is the party that is
not concerned with struggle and that tries as much as possible to obtain rights
from the colonizer. As a result, colonialism ends and the party (the leaders)
controls the state. The severity of dualism is very high and they became the ruling
class. The other case is when a group is derived from the political party and forms
another new one. This group recognizes the failure of the political party as it
asked the political party to clarify its philosophy, programs, and strategies. The
result is that this group will remove itself from the political party and will form a
parallel and counterpart party so as to face colonialism.
This group will aim for a revolution. This revolution will starts from the villagers,
who are ready for revolution and who when asked to share will say, “When do we
start?” They will work with all their anger and passions to stimulate and work for
the revolution. Then the revolution is extended to the town, and the original
political party becomes isolated.
Here the struggle phase aims to create a national consciousness but it fails to
create a social consciousness. The result is that after de-colonialism the political
party becomes the ruling class. In this case the dualism is not severe as the first
case.
The political party collapses after de-colonisation because it did not destroy
dualism, and continued to build its relation with the other (the colonizer). It no
longer exists because during the struggle phase it did not have an ideology, clear
vision, and a program, as if it were formed for a specific aim and after achieving
it, it ended. The political party became the authority, and the authority is the State.
Quite on the contrary, the party has made itself into a screen between the
masses and the leaders. There is no longer any party life, for the branches
which were set up during the colonial period are today completely,
demobilized...The local party leaders are given administrative posts, the
party becomes an administration, and the militants disappear into the crowd
and take the empty title of citizen…The party is becoming a means of
private advancement.” (Fanon 1963, p137-138)
The political party becomes a ruling class.
2. Ruling class:
Fanon uses the term bourgeoisie but other scholars like Robert Fatton use the term
Ruling Class. I think the term Ruling Class fits more, because they are not
bourgeois as in the European Bourgeoisie concept, neither they are elite. They
possess the state institutions and rule the state; they function as a “caricature” as
they imitate the European bourgeoisie.
This term ruling class expresses a political and economic perspective as a class.
Its existence creates a counterpart class that is the poor class. The ruling class after
de-colonization is formed very quickly as a result of a vacuum. It becomes the
class that controls the state institutions – political, economic and cultural
institutions – and manages them in ways that fit and strengthen its status. This
class is conscious of its needs, and acts in such a way as to strengthen its socio-
political status. So it is a class and fits the characteristics of a class. Fanon
describes the ruling class excellently and give a bird’s eye perspective of how it
functions.
The way that the nation functions depends on the ruling class because its
philosophy determines the economies, the rules of the nation, the value system.
The way that it functions will reflect on the entire nation and will appear in the
behavior of the people at all levels.
The ruling class consists of various groups: educated, illiterate, from tribes, from a
specific class, elite, etc. They are not the educated only. This class may be
recognized from its life-style, it is so near to the European life, the language,
dress, consumption, education, relationships, etc. It is a class from an economic

perspective, as it possesses the posts of the nation and the resources of it. From a
social perspective it is a modernized class, which is to say a consumption class.
The ruling class creates the exploited class. In order not to reach into obvious
struggle between each other, patron-client relations take their role within the
society and also the informal relations. It works so as not to appear as a class in
its pure meaning. Fatton says, “Dependence on kinship means that the elite
maintains close affective ties to individual of quite disparate social levels.”
(Fatton, 1988, p260)
In the Third World, class may be measured through wealth possession, institution
management and the position of the tribe, and not through the means of
production.
Robert Miller comments that “Max Weber pointed out that, as the basis of
political power, possession of the means of administration may be an alternative
to the possession of the means of production.” (Miller 1974, p 526)
Colonialism has a deep effect in structuring these classes and how the relation
between them functions.
Classes may be divided as follows:
 Ruling class
 Exploited class (the majority)
 Intermediate class: those who try to benefit from the ruling class. They go
toward and nearer to the ruling class.
Characteristic of the Ruling Class:
1. It is underdeveloped, it doesn’t develop the economy of the nation, it does not

innovate or build the infrastructure of the nation or concern itself with production;
it makes the economy in stagnation and backwardness. The economy is directed
for the ruling class members’ individual interests and not for the interest of the
nation. It strengthens its position at the expense of the masses. It uses
“nationalism” as a tool to justify and cover its behavior. It is a failure class and its
authority masks its failure. It is an intermediate tool for Europe. As Fatton says,
“The dependent and backward character of African capitalism has

contributed to the material and hegemonic fragility of most Africans
bourgeois and thus to authoritarian political forms of governance. Such
authoritarian forms, however, mask the ruling class’s relative incapacity to
transform their power into effective political, economic and culture
policies.” (Fatton1990, p255)
Sklar, as he comments on the political party and the way the political leaders
monopolize the power at the expense of the masses, says, that “Colonial
nationalism and its aftermath appear to involve primarily another “revolt of the
masses,” another rising of the “great unwashed,” another “search for status” by
the lower classes of the world.” (Sklar 1967 , p1)
2. The position of the entrepreneurs and the economists’ activists are extended
from the government supply and not from their own work, i.e. via exploiting the
nation. They are supported from the elite and protected by their patrons, which
means that their position is not the result of their professionalism. 8
3. It tries to control the nation through the possession of the key positions. It
functions in a manner, which opens the way to ethnic, religious and tribal
conflicts:
8
Chodak says,
“The African entrepreneur can hardly be described as a capitalist. Rarely does he venture
to engage in large-scale industrial activities employing numerous workers. Such
companies as exist belong to foreigners or are owned by the state. African businessmen
engage in retail trade, transportation, or small construction work…They employ, as a rule,
only a few employees and most often recruit for the job their distant relatives. As a
stratum, African entrepreneurs have to be described as a middlemen and clients and as
imitating the life style of a middle class rather than being a middle class in the sense of
that word when applied in other parts of the world. New, and inexperienced in their
undertakings, they had in the past faced the competition of long established European and
Asian companies. If they succeeded in this competition it was not so because they were
supported in this competition by their government, but primarily because of their private,
individual good connections with the men in power. Now as then, quite often they are
actually relatives of the members of the political or bureaucratic elite and too rarely they
operate with money belonging to their powerful patrons. The shield of their patrons’
protection is often actually their only asset in business...African businessmen want to
imitate the way the foreign bourgeoisie live and spend money. Forced to share their
income with their patrons, to pay high taxes, to support their relatives, and to maintain an
adequate style life, they are the clients of the men in power...(Chodak 1973, p415)
The native bourgeoisie which comes to power uses its class aggressiveness
to corner the positions formerly kept for foreigners… It will fight to the
bitter end against these people “who insult our dignity as a nation.” It waves
aloft the notion of the nationalism and Afrianization of the ruling class. The
fact is that such action will become more and more tinged by racism, until
the bourgeoisie bluntly puts the problem to the government by saying, “We
must have these posts.” They will not stop their snarling until they have
taken over every one. (Fanon 1963, p126)
In Africa today, the new ruling classes are based on power, wealth and
opportunity for personal achievement. The criteria of inclusion are high-
status occupation, high income, control of wealth producing enterprises, and
superior education. (Sklar 1962, p7)
4. Because it has no philosophy, it is shallow, it always feels that the situation

will not last too long, and that all the contradictions that are accompanied by its
existence will lead to its collapse at any moment, which results of its feeling of
fear. It defends itself and goes toward racism or tribalism so as to find advocates
to protect its existence and to extend the time of its authority.
5. The ruling class is unable to integrate with the society. The society is
divided and because of that the ruling class works for maintaining and protecting
its position and its possession to the state. It adopts the authoritarian system and
the one party system. It becomes ostensibly undivided as the masses accepted the
status quo, the control of that class as a reality. Fatton explains:
“ The state is almost exclusively an authoritarian structure of dominance:

expressing the narrow corporate interests of the ruling class, it has failed to
become integral. The integral state is the state of a hegemonic ruling class
and as such is capable of “expansion.” It is capable of integrating and co-
opting into its own institutions potential allies and even antagonistic
elements. The integral state is thus relatively autonomous since it can
extract certain sacrifices from the ruling class and make certain concessions
to popular classes. The integral state, however, is not above society; it is
integral precisely because the ruling class has achieved hegemony. In other
words, the integral state can emerge only when the ruling class has
consolidated its rule to point where its material, intellectual and moral
leadership is unquestioned or at least consensually accepted by the
subordinate classes, thus hegemony make possible the integral state….
(Fatton 1988, p 254--255).
6. The result of its behavior will lead to the surfacing of the informal structure of
the nation as parallel to the formal one. Here the personal and group relationships
function and became counterpart to the nation, as will be explained later in the
explanation of the patron-client relationship.
7. It has a narrow perspective as it tries to exploit the nation as much as possible; it is

based on selfishness and wickedness. It aims to exploit as much as possible at the
moment, a mentality makes it unable to see further or to think of the long term. 9
The way it functions will spread though the entire nation down to the smallest
details, as it tries to suppress the masses.
As Fanon describe the reflection of its behaviour:

 Conflict between workers. “The working class of the towns, the masses of
the unemployed, the small artisan and craftsmen for their part line up
behind this nationalist attitude; but in all justice let it be said, they only
follow in the steps of their bourgeoisie. If the national bourgeoisie goes
into competition with the European, the artisans and craftsmen start a fight
against non-national Africans.” (Fanon1963, p127)
 The land proprietors will control the land, and exploit the peasants,
without giving them any rights.
 The masses will return to ethnic division. “We observe a falling back
towards old tribal attitudes, and furious and sick at heart, we perceive that
race feeling in its most exacerbated form in triumphing. (Ibid., p128)
 The army is the product of colonialism that is used to destroy the ruling
class if it did not obey and function according to the colonizer’s desire.
9
See Fatton (1988), p254-255
9. It becomes deeply involved with Europe and seeks its approval and
satisfaction. It moves far away from the masses and tries to reflect the European
pattern inside the nation as if a small Europe existed in Africa. It continues its
relation with the European bourgeoisie and builds places inside the nation for their
pleasure. Martin explains,
“A visitor to contemporary West Africa will immediately note the marked

contrasts in types of social and human existence to be found there. Existing
side by side will be seen Africans living the type of life characteristic of
most Western countries, while the majority of Africans will be seen living a
life of subsistence and adhering to much of the old, traditional patterns.”
(kilson 1985, p372)
10. Because the value systems of the ruling class collapse, that will be reflected in
the nation. The value system will collapse within the exploited class so as not to
be dangerous to the existence of the ruling class. So the result is that the black
market, thieves, robbers, and drugs appear.
As a social elite in the African society, the middle class has set imitable
standards and patterns for the rest of the population, and in general has
spearheaded the drive for modernity in this isolated part of the world.
Moreover, in its effort to both protect and advance its socio-economic and
political status in a colonial situation, the middle class has turned to
nationalism as one means for attaining these ends. (Kilson1985, p 376)
Fatton notes, “the primacy of class in the shaping of society and in the
authoritative allocation of values. “ (Fatton1988, p255)
11. Corruption spreads among the governmental institutions:
 The corruption of the Parliament.
 The corruption of the army: “The army and the police constitute the pillars
of the regime; an army and a police force (another rule which must not be
forgotten) which are advised by foreign experts.” (Fanon 1963, p139).
 The corruption of the institutions:

There exists inside the new regime, however, an inequality in the

acquisition of wealth and in monopolization. Some have double sources
of income and demonstrate that they are specialized in opportunism.
Privileges multiply and corruption triumphs, while morality declines.
Today the vultures are too numerous and too voracious in proportion to
the lean spoils of the national wealth. The party, a true instrument of
power in the hands of bourgeoisie, reinforces the machine, and ensures
that the people are hemmed in and immobilized. The party helps the
government to hold the people down. It becomes more and more clearly
anti-democratic, an implement of coercion. The party is objectively,
sometimes subjectively, the accomplice of the merchant bourgeoisie.
(Ibid., p138)
Fanon tries to explain that the ruling class is the result of economic events, but his
explanation gives a different impression, namely that because culture was
penetrated it helped in creating the ruling class, and its existence leads to the
creation of the bad economics events.
3. Patron-client relationship:
This works as an informal structure parallel to the formal structure of the nation,
or it works so as to blur the clarity of classes. As mentioned previously, how is the
behavior of the ruling class based on patron-client relationships? How does that
function within the nation and how is it developed?
After the ruling class is formed, the management of the institutions of the nation is
based on which of the individuals of this class can obtain a high position. Each
individual is supported by his group, clients, or tribe. As these relationships
develop, it ends as groups conflict and the main goal becomes a matter of how
each group will sustain and increase its power. This is the core of the relationship.
When other people enter this circle, they must function in the same way,
otherwise they will be out of that circle. It will be a conflict of interest which
entails obtaining what one can from the nation. Here, the realism theory applied
and functions.
Also, the client-patron relationships will shape the politics of the nation. As much
as these relationships suppress the politics of the nation, corruption increases.
The characteristics of the client-patron relations:
 This patron-client relationships appear when the masses are unable to

emerge in the capitalist economy:
Patron-client relationships are also a manifestation of the patterns of
dependence and misdevelopment characterizing the world capitalist
economy. African ruling classes bent on preserving their status - in an
environment of growing - are forced to rely on external capitalist forces to
obtain more resources with which to finance their patronage. (Fatton
1988, p261)
 It may overcome the formal structure of the nation; There will be a

network of relations that will take priority over the government and the
national goals. The government will function according to these
relations.10
 It creates a chaotic society; the relationships function vertically and

horizontally, which leads to injustice. Chodak further states,
“The patron–client relationship produces factions which divide the

societies vertically and impede the development of class and other
horizontal localities. In modern African societies they produce a network
of relations, which bear contradictory consequences, Patron-client
relationships permeate the entire structure of modern African societies.
They are generally accepted as congruent with traditions such as relations
of reciprocity, of sharing, of mutual help, of solidarity of people of
common heritage and interests. The man who becomes important and “
big” is expected to forsake his kinsmen, villagers, friends and to render
them help. Thus by building up a clientship the African political man
fulfills the common expectations following custom. He also benefits by
buttressing his position with support from men whom he can trust. Yet, in
10
See Chodak (1973)
granting political offices, scholarships, licensees and credit to his clients,

the patron breeds nepotism, favoritism, corruption and injustice. This
inevitably germinates resentment and produces oppositions, perpetuating
frictions, rivalries and hostilities which lead to new vehement upheavals.
(Ibid., p413)
 Patron-client relations are structured through ethnity and through the

occupation of the posts:
One has to distinguish between two kinds of clienteles usually

surrounding the men in power in modern Africa, the one composed of
people of their own ethnic group, and the other, recruited from those
holding subordinate positions in the power structure, especially within the
bureaucratic civil service. Political leaders and civil servants are hence
mutually dependent.” (Ibid., p 413)
 It becomes a system structured by individuals:
Personal rule is a system of relations linking rulers not with the public or
even with the ruled (at least not directly), but with patrons, associates,
clients, supporters, and rivals who constitute the “system.” If personal
rulers are restrained, it is by the limits of their personal authority and
power and by the authority and power of patrons, associates, clients,
supporters and - of course - rivals. The system is “structured”, so to
speak, not by instititutions, but by the politicians themselves. In general,
when rulers are related to the ruled, it is indirectly by patron-client
means.1 (Fatton 1990, p459)
 It creates inequality and gaps within the nation, and that leads to injustice,
as the standards and norms are determined through the relationships:
Patron-client relationships reflect great inequalities of exchange and

thoroughly lopsided structures of power, and they entail bonds of
coercive dependence rather than ties of genuine reciprocity. Coercive
dependence, however, does not entail or necessarily call forth the
1
Quoted in Jackson and Rosberg, Personal Rule in Black Africa, p19
consciousness of suffering or exploitation or a sense of moral outrage.

Patron-client relationships contribute to the routinization and
legitimation of coercive dependence by projecting a form of
benevolent paternalism; they facilitate the establishment of the moral
authority of obedience and stifle the sense of injustice. They tend to
freeze the emergence of class conflict and enshrine as natural the
existing hierarchy of domination and subordination. Coercive
dependence has yet to generate massive popular resistance, but it is an
objective reality…Patron-client relationships are, therefore, processes
of resource extraction and capital accumulation. In this sense, their
economic structures and paternalistic ethos strengthen and enhance
the material and political power and patrons. They simultaneously
disorganize and individualize the resistance and struggles of the
clientele against its bonds of coercive dependence. Hence, patron-
client relationships contribute to the transformation of patron
authority, and they repress the collective challenge of subaltern
classes. As such, they are means of political control and financial
aggrandizement. (ibid , p460).
A large portion of the population becomes poor, but the client-patron system
prevent sit from appearing as a clear class.
The patrimonial ruler’s favor and disfavor, gift and confiscation, generate
privilege and wealth, and simultaneously ruin and poverty. The ruler’s
insatiable appetite forever increasing shares of economic surplus transforms
society into his own personal hunting ground. The vast majority that is kept
purposefully unorganized and powerless is compelled to pay the tributes
that enrich the ruler and his retinue. This production of wealth that seldom
finds its way into productive investments is generally wasted in ostentatious
consumption and in self-aggrandizement projects. The ultimate result is
economic stagnation, political malaise, and moral cynicism. Not
surprisingly, African patrimonialism is highly unstable form of governance.
Presidential monarchs, however powerful they may be, live in the
permanent fear of conspiracies; courtiers continuously agonize over their
uncertain present and immediate future; and the people in their general
indifference and contempt toward authority withdraw from the public realm
to search for alternative forms of survival. Such patterns of systematic
instability created the condition for a Hobbesian quest for power, as well as
for its violent and coercive maintenance. In addition, instability is
exacerbated further by the high premium that ruling class place on their
monopolistic control of the state. (Fatton 1990, p462-4)
The patron-client relationships will function at the expense of work and

production.
As a result of this [stratum of the people who occupy the civil services
which run everything and become separated from the society and of the fact
that it is career- oriented and hence dependent on patrons, the bureaucratic
elite has developed a peculiar life-style and culture with their own value-
system consisting of a mixture of generally accepted bureaucratic norms of
behavior, traditional obligation, and a peculiar type of solidarity…Nothing
works if the civil servants do not do their job, since the institutions
composing the organization of the modernized part of African socio-
economic life are no less in other countries of contemporary world a part of
an administered society. Organized groups with enough power to exert
pressure on the civil service to subordinate their activities to the needs of
the society are practically absent. The governments, whether civilian or
military, regardless of their official proclamations, depend, in the final
instance, on civil servants which they have to elicit by all available
means…Hence, both the political elite as well as the subordinate population
depends on this stratum. Yet, it is a stratum of clients who individually
depend on patrons in the higher rank (Ibid., p414)
Fanon doesn’t give a clear picture of how kinship and the patron-client
relationship function, but just mentions it as an idea. However, it is clear from
the above examples that these relations create a blurred and confused society.
4. Tribalism:
In the African countries the tribes are considered the units of the society. Tribes
play a role within the society, and their role appears obviously when the formal
structure of the nation is weak. The more it is weakened, the greater the role of the
tribes. Also they play a role in determining the patron-client relationships, as in
who belongs to which tribe.
Fanon has a self-contradictory opinion toward tribalism: sometimes he argues that
tribes should be respected and that they should share in the political process, and
sometimes he argues that they are used by the colonizer against the urbanites. And
sometimes he deals with the tribe as a bad and backward thing. He tries to make a
balance between nationalism and tribalism. He also does not differentiate
sometimes between tribalism and the peasant class, as if they are two different
things and sometimes as if they are one thing. Here there is vagueness in Fanon’s
proposal. Fanon describes the backwardness of the tribes:
Colonialism has often strengthened or established its domination by

organizing the purification of the country districts. Ringed round by
marabouts, witch-doctors and customary chieftains, the majority of
country-dwellers are still living in the feudal manner, and the full power
of this medieval structure of society is maintained by the settlers’
military and administrative officials.” (Fanon1963, p89)
On the other hand he calls for their respect:
The traditional chiefs are ignored, sometimes even persecuted. The makers of
the future nation’s history trample unconcernedly over small local
disputes…the history of traditional conflicts between clan and tribes--a
harmonious whole, at one with the decisive action to which they call on the
people to contribute. The old men surrounded by respect in all traditional
societies and usually invested with unquestionable moral authority, are
publicly held to ridicule. (Fanon1963, p91)
However, in each society the masses may constitute tribes or sometimes the
peasantry. At the end they are “the simple people.” And the chief of the tribe may
be on the same level as the chief of the village, so it depends on the nature of each
society.
5. Working Class:
Fanon considered the working class as a class which has colonial privileges and
which has something to lose. It is considered an important and efficient tool for
the colonizer, for the continuation and the function of colonialism. This is not
applicable to a colony, whether it is an industrial country or agricultural land. The
colonizer gives the colonized low-rank jobs and doesn’t give them rights. Fanon
seems to confuse the middle class and the masses.
The working class was the result of the effects of capitalism and not the result of
development. The philosophy of the existence of the working class is derived
from the satellite relations between the colonizer and the Third World and not
purely due to the concepts of the nation itself. The workers move toward
establishment of a working class as they sell their labor, whether as cultivators,
servants, or workers in industries. This class is structured obviously through the
establishment of the unions which work for their rights and also direct them as a
unity so as to behave collectively and to obtain their rights. As the working class
becomes more aware itself, the more it moves toward nationalism. Fanon argues
that the recognition of nationalism starts by asking the colonizer for social
rights.11
The working class in Africa may be derived from the peasantry and sometimes
from the tribes, and it differs according to the nature of each. So the worker is
11
“ The change in the way of life among the factors that have operated to produce the
different level of social existence in contemporary West Africa, perhaps the most fundamental
one has been the rise of money and an exchange economy. The use of money to make money
and the concomitant growth of production (agricultural, mineral and, more recently,
secondary) for the market has made it both possible and necessary to employ wage-labor.
Thousands of Africans have been uprooted from their existence economies and their existence
has become dependent upon their ability to sell their labor… As elsewhere in the world, the
conditions of wage employment in West Africa have necessitated the movement of laborers to
the towns and urban centers. In these towns and urban centers, life for the labor has proven
difficult. Slums have emerged with great rapidity, and such urban centers as Lagos and Accra
reflect the industrial revolution at its worst. In order to lessen the negative effects of the new
economic system upon themselves, as well as to protect and further their new interest and
stake in this system, the wage laborers have, like their counterparts elsewhere, turned to trade
unionism. In so doing, they inevitably became involved in the nationalistic politics that took
strong hold in West Africa immediately upon the close of World War II , and have since
played an important role in the growth and spread of nationalism in this area. (Kolsin1985 P
372 -373).
attached to his social relations through his relation to the tribe, on the other hand
as a worker who obtain his economic needs belongs to the working class. It
represents a class that is related to the global system as they are exploited to meet
the needs of the other externally. This class comprises the majority of the
population, and has no privileges, as Fanon mentioned.
6. Peasant Class:
Fanon describes the peasantry as they act violently, spontaneously, and

collectively. I think their behavior is the result of their simplicity and their
isolation. But Fanon meant by the peasantry the masses (the majority). Perinbam
criticizes Fanon because of his vagueness. Who are the masses? “Fanon seldom
distinguishes between the peasants, the masses or the people…Fanon found, by
process of elimination and by virtue of numbers, his own revolutionary elect.”
(Perinbam1973, p435)
The characteristics of the peasantry, as Fanon described it, are:
. 1. Spontaneity, which affects their behavior:
The peasantry spontaneously gives concrete form to the general insecurity:

…and colonialism gives concrete form to the general insecurity: and
colonialism takes fright and either continues the war or negotiates.
(Fanon1963, p93)
Perinbam criticizes Fanon for dealing with this character positively in going into
revolution. He sees that spontaneity is a “rallying idea, a myth, a symbol of
committed action.” (Perinbam 1973, p 444). He comments that that this character
may be misused, and it cannot be the base for a revolution. He considered Fanon’s
argument is far away from logic
I think Perinban criticized Fanon negatively. The oppressed always seeks to

adjust his position and emancipate himself. Fanon tried to deal with “spontaneity”
positively and to direct it toward the benefit of the oppressed as he called for the
rationalization of the revolution. Also he believed that favor or despair (which is
part of spontaneity) could never achieve emancipation. So Fanon argued that by
getting involved in the struggle and the continuity in this phase, spontaneity might
transform to rationalization by experience.
2) Conservative
Fanon deals with conservative character as a positive and negative thing at the
same time: The former one is structured as the peasants refused to be penetrated
by the colonizer and worked to protect their own structure. Fanon considers this
structure as one that protects the group, as the individual is involved within the
group. The latter is structured as this conservatism creates rigidity that may
increase backwardness and stimulate the tribal and religious conflicts.
The native peasantry lives against a background of tradition, where the

traditional structure of society has remained intact…the peasant who stays put
defends his traditions stubbornly, and in a colonized society stands for the
disciplined element whose interests lie in maintaining the social structure. It is
true that this unchanging way of life, which hangs on like grim death to rigid
social structures, may occasionally give birth to movements which are based
on religious fanaticism or tribal wars. But in their spontaneous movements the
country people as a whole remain disciplined and altruistic. The individual
stands aside in favour of the community. (Fanon1963, p90)
The peasantry is not dual, rather it is stagnated. And according to Fanon it is

suppressed by the colonizers, because they recognize its danger, so the colonizers
seek to suppress it, or to increase the gap between it and the elite, or to give
privileges to one party rather than the other, which may create internal disputes.
They are prone to violence because they are suppressed, and to Fanon they have
nothing to lose.
Also when the peasantry class is exposed to stress , it are prone to violence
behavior. It believes that violence is the only means for emancipation.
This class is ready to struggle against colonialism, but it needs leadership.
3) Collective action:
I believe that collectivity is related to spontaneity: if one acts all the others act.
Also Fanon describes the inflation of the news in the village. The news is so much
exaggerated it spreads in the village and the reaction is according to the inflated
news. The reaction is a collective action, but it is derived from the spontaneity, so
collectivity is a result of spontaneity, which leads to collective action that aims for
unity and integrity within the village. Perinbam argues that they are not related
and tries to make them appear contradictory, as he says, “Spontaneity originated
in the individual mind, but could become collectivized under appropriate social
circumstances.” (Perinbam1973, p 433)
Fanon considers violence, spontaneity, and collectivity as good things if they are
developed through the experience of the struggle, that collectivity will lead to
unity, violence will lead to insurrection, and spontaneity will lead to the
emergence of brotherhood and idealistic meanings, as he meant by “simplicity.”
Conclusion / Classes in Africa:
Some argue that the class structure in Africa is still in the formation phase.
However this is not really apt, because the African society first of all consists of
tribes. Colonialism affected the original society and created a new trend toward
“nationalism”. This trend activates the emergence of a semi-class system but it
exists inside the tribal system. The individuals who are classified into a specific
class are extended from tribes.
After de-colonization the ruling class is formed quickly. It appears as a class with
clear features, and its counterpart is the mass class. The ruling class exploits it so
as to protect its position. Chodak says, “Differentiation into rich and poor is
evident all over the continent.” (Chodak, 1973, p416)
The tribal system encircles the “class triangle” and provides it with “equilibrium”
so that the mass class will not become class-conscious toward its needs and work
against the ruling class. This occurs through kinship and patron-client
relationships. Any attempt to end the tribal system means destruction of the social
system, and its destruction does not mean converting Africa into a classless or
classes society.
The ruling class functions so as to achieve the following aims:
1. To use the tribal system so as not to be against it. It benefits from it in that
the mass class will not be a counterpart to its existence
2. Build good relationships with the colonizer so as to protect its status from
internal opposition.
3. It imposes its value system, so the masses will be unable to counterbalance
it.
4. The intermediate class is the class that first of all is not poor. It is affected
by the European life-style and leans toward the ruling class and Europe.
So there are two trends: the masses, and the ruling and intermediate classes
together.
The poor are traditional whereas the rich are semi-Europeans who try to get rid of
tribalism and build a new Europe inside Africa.
Although there are many criticisms regarding Fanon‘s proposal, the main idea that
Fanon argues is how the Third World is divided, and he discusses how it should
experience riddance of this division. The experience, although it may be very
hard and severe, will direct the Third World to its own path.
-------------------------------------
Chapter 7
Dualism and Revolution
This chapter talks about Fanon’s view of revolution as a necessity for destroying
dualism. It also discusses violence and its role in the revolution process.
I will compare Fanon’s view of revolution with Samuel Huntington’s vision. and
with other Western scholars who wrote about revolution. What are the variables
(factors) that they studied in trying to create a vision or model so as to explain
how revolution functions? What are the preconditions? What are the results?
What are the principles that they build on in their proposals, and how do their
proposals agree with or contradict Fanon’s proposal?
Revolution in General:
Is revolution a dependent or independent variable? Is it a changing concept that

changes with the changing concepts and ideas that governs the world? Or is
revolution the turning point that changes the concepts of the world? Is revolution a
historical phenomenon or a developmental phenomenon? What are the factors that
comprise a revolution? Are they the same for all nations or do they differ from
one nation to another? What is the constant thing regarding the concept of
revolution? Revolution is related to change, obvious change. But how deep is this
change? Does change mean a reform or restructuring or transformation or
destruction? There are many different concepts of revolution, and it can be seen
and interpreted from various perspectives: historical, social, psychological, etc.,
and can be applied to every nation’s history. The definition of revolution is related
to the factors that determine the precondition, the process, and the results of
revolution. These factors differ from period to period and from one nation to
another. Also, these factors react with each other and give a result. The result
differs from one state to another, and this is what gives each nation its uniqueness.
There may be similar revolutions but there are no identical revolutions.
Causes of revolution:
Revolution may result from 1. Injustice: the oppressed seek to achieve justice;
there are oppressed and oppressor, exploiter and exploited. 2. Adoption of new
ideologies and concepts 3. The internal structure of the society does not develop
evenly or there are inverse trends within it 4. Suppression of a culture. 5.
Developements within the international context. 6.There are so many fools in the
world; their foolishness extends from their not knowing.
Fanon’s concept of revolution includes all of the above. There are oppressed and
oppressor, colonizer and the colonized. The colonizer imposes on the colonized
his culture, while suppressing the culture of the colonized, and also the internal
structure develops unevenly: there are the masses and the elite, each developed in
different directions, or a dichotomy between the colonizer and the colonized.
Scholars tend to study variables of revolution and try to interpret them

theoretically. Some emphasize the structure of the nation - the power structure, the
economic system, and the role of the elite--from a macro - perspective. Others
concentrate on the behavioral and the psychological perspectives of the
revolution. Still others take the Great Revolutions as a standard to interpret and
analyze revolution, and some authors interpret revolution using development and
modernization as the main aspects of revolution. Some concentrate on a specific
character of revolution, but they do not relate it to the final results. Some are not
balanced in treating the structure and the culture of the nation; sometimes they
dealt with structure at the expense of culture.
In order to understand revolution, one must understand the nature of the society -
its unity, homogeneity, culture, consciousness of culture, how it developed - and
the political and economic structures, how they go with each other, and also the
relation between the nation and international context.
Fanon and the definition of revolution:
Revolution may be either a transformation process - and thus it will be an historic

development phenomenon - or a replacement, and thus it will be building a new
phase of history, creating a new history.
The definition of revolution as derived from Fanon may be defined as: the dual
process that aims to destroy the colonial social and economic structure, and the
reconstruction of social and economic life in a way that is consistent and in
conformity with the original culture of the colonized. A new construction means
building the national and social consciousness.
This consciousness makes the people capable of managing their state - at all levels
- in such a way as to protect their values and culture. They also are able to protect
the state from any external international penetration, whether political, economic,
or cultural. They can structure modernization according to its culture and not
permit it to usurp the core of the state. The unity of the state is extended from the
homogeneity that can be achieved in managing the state.
Process of revolution: dual dialectic process
Revolution to Fanon means a radical change, the destruction of colonialism, and

he defines colonialism as “the replacing of a certain ‘species’ of men by another.
Without any period of transition, there is a total and absolute substitution. (Fanon
1967, p29) So in order for the oppressed species control the state, everything
should be changed up and down.
Revolution is the reaction of many factors within the society that develop with
each other. These factors are intellectual, physical (violence), leadership-oriented,
cultural, artistic, consciousness-oriented, and the trend toward classless
revolution, values, dignity, equality, and idealism. All react with each other so as
to make a radical change within the people as a group and within the structure of
the nation and to build a different and strong relationship between the factors.
The colonized as a unit goes into a dialectic process within the colonizer and
produces a new thing, a new nation. There are two dialectic processes: a dialectic
process between the colonizer and the colonized accompanied by another internal
dialectic process between part of the elite and “the masses with the undual elite”.
Violence plays a vital role in bringing all these factors together and in penetrating
time as change is achieved much more quickly.
Revolution is part of the process of building of the nation, the first stage and the
most important one, the foundation. It develops at an accelerated speed and tries
to create a new reality. If there are shortcomings within this phase- they will
emerge later, not during the revolutionary phase.
Fanon’s Model of Revolution:
The revolution begins when the colonized seeks to better his situation relative to
the colonizer and asking for more rights. Then as these demands develop and as
the colonized recognizes that his demands won’t be achieved, he takes a more
nationalistic style, which will developed until a political party emerges which is
built according to the Western concept of the political party. Those who
established the political party are the educated and the intellectuals.
There may be more than one variation: either the country obtains its independence
without an intense or deep struggle - in which those who develop the party will
replace the state directly, at the expense of the masses - or some of the
intellectuals will leave the political party because they recognize that it is useless,
penetrated, and wrong, and build a new party that confronts the original one.
They go to the villages and mobilize the people, who are ready to fight against the
enemy and who are very honest in their approach. So it starts from the peasants,
then to the tribes, and after that it will transfer to the city, first to the Lumpen
proletariat and then everywhere. All the groups play a role in the revolution and
the intellectuals spread consciousness among the people and direct them. The
process is not centralized. It is decentralized and all the groups are active. This
revolution will lead to an intensely violent events against the colonizer
characterized by spontaneity as passion, as if emancipation will be achieved in a
moment. The reaction of the colonizer will be severe and many people will be
killed or injured. This will shock the colonized and makes him act negatively. The
leaders play a crucial role in the awareness of the masses so as to continue in the
struggle.
Then the revolution starts to take a new, rationalized path. The colonized will see
things differently and will recognize the responsibility for becoming involved in
such an experience. Then there will be a new trend, a new program, targets and
strategy, so that the revolution will continue until it achieve its aims.
Revolution should achieve:
 Not modernization, not liberalism, and not communism; rather it is the

emancipation of the mind from the colonizer’s effect and culture.
 Destruction of all that the colonizer created: backwardness, poverty, tribal,
and ethnic conflicts
 Re-building the original culture of the colonized, in a developed way.
 Control the economy and institutions of the nation by the colonized, in
order to foster and protect the culture.
 Appearance of the culture in the political framework of the nation.
 Self-protection by the state so that it never allows itself to be involved in
the international context at the expense of its stability, security, hegemony,
and unity, lest it become weak via being penetrated.
 Creating a trend toward social consciousness
---------------------------------------
Violence:
Most of the authors mentioned below see that revolution is always accompanied
by violence. Fanon concentrates on violence because it is a catalyst that makes all
the factors that constitute revolution react with each other effectively.
It has two targets: the first is internal and aims at the destruction of the rotten
culture, to free the individual from the narrow vicious circle, to create self-respect
which is accompanied by a vision of the colonizer as not being above oneself,
building a value system that achieves unity and homogeny among the colonized.
The second target is the destruction of colonialism and the possession of the
economics and politics of the nation. Fanon sees that colonialism is a violent
phenomenon that should be confronted by more violence.
Why Violence:
Violence plays a crucial role in penetrating time; that is, emancipation will be
within a short period of time in comparison with the long period of colonialism.
Violence creates homogeneity which will lead to the emergence of a new style
and vision in the colonized. A dialectic process is involved, but the colonizer tries
to prevent this, placing the colonized in stagnation by imposing a master-slave
relationship.
How:
The politics of the colonizer, as he aims to destroy or suppress the colonized, will
create violence within the colonized. This violence will be released internally, and
internal conflict within the colonized community is created. And it will imprison
the colonized in many vicious circles that make him live in the dark, unable to see
his way. Violence aims to direct the colonized to the truth and to build unity and
consciousness so this violence is directed at the colonizer.
As the colonized become stronger the colonizer becomes weaker. This

relationship will function at an inverse speed because the philosophy of the
existence of colonialism is very weak in relation to the philosophy of the
colonized’s existence. So conceptually, the colonized is stronger than the
colonizer.
For violence to achieve its aims, it should be organized and directed. It aims to
create national consciousness, consciousness of identity.
The aims of violence, according to Fanon, are:
A. Promoting individual self-respect

1) Destroy myths
2) Release tension and aggression

3) Help the oppressed take charge of their own lives
B. Realizing political independence, terrorism
1) Reveal the reality of capitalist/colonial violence
2) Communicates effectively to the colonial oppressor
3) Clear the foundation on which a new order may be built
C. Creating a New Humanity
1) Promote a national culture.
2) Allow for a process of perpetual renewal. (Sonnleitner 1987, p297-
298)
Fanon believes that de-colonialization as a radical change will not be achieved

except through violence, by the same tool that was used by the colonizer to
achieve colonialism.
The violence which has ruled over the ordering of the colonial world, which
has ceaselessly drummed the rhythm for the destruction of native social
forms and broken up without reserve the systems of reference of the
economy, the customs of dress and external life, that same violence will be
claimed and taken over by the native at the moment when, deciding to
embody history in his own person, he surges into the forbidden quarters.
(Fanon 1963, p33)
---------------------------------------
Fanon and the Western theories of Revolution:
Samuel Huntington:
I would like to comment on Samuel Huntington’s book Political Order in

Changing Societies and how he viewed revolution. I chose this book because most
of the scholars who talked about revolution mention him, and also he
distinguished between the Eastern and Western pattern. I will try to relate his
vision to Fanon.
Huntington defined Revolution as “a rapid fundamental and violent domestic

change in the dominant values and myths of a society, in its political institutions,
social structure, leadership and government activity and policies. Revolutions are
thus to be distinguished from insurrections, rebellion, revolts, and wars of
independence.” (Huntington 1968, p264)
He concentrates on the values and relates them to myths on the same level; but I
think values differ from myths unless he means bad values. Huntington relates
revolution to three variables: 1) social change, 2) mobilization, and 3) political
institutions as he relates them to modernization. He says,
The political essence of revolution is the rapid expansion of political

consciousness and the rapid mobilization of new groups into politics at a
speed which makes it impossible for existing political institutions to
assimilate them. Revolution is the extreme case of the explosion of political
participation. Without this explosion there is no revolution. A complete
revolution, however, also involves a second phase: the creation and
institutionalization of a new political order. The successful revolution
combines rapid political mobilization and rapid political institutionalization.
Not all revolutions produce a new political order (Ibid., p266)
If a society is to maintain a high level of community, the expansion of

political participation must be accompanied by the development of stronger,
more complex and more autonomous political institutions. The effect of the
expansion of political participation, however, is usually to undermine the
traditional political institutions and to obstruct the development of modern
political ones. Modernization and social mobilization, in particular, thus
tend to produce political decay unless steps are taken to moderate or restrict
its impact on political consciousness and political involvement. Most
societies, even those with fairly complex and adaptable traditional political
institutions, suffer a loss of political community during the most intense
phases of modernization”. (Ibid., p85-86)
What Huntington tries to concentrate on is that the society, and the change of the
structure of society, should trend toward modernization at the expense of its
culture, so that the society will be easily dealt with. As all nations become the
same, there are no clear features for each nation. All adopt the same principles. He
conceives of the sovereignty of modernization; “Revolution is an aspect of

modernization. ” (Ibid., p265)
Here I would like to include with these controversies the ideas of Francis
Fukuyama in The End of History and the Last Man. He argues that modernization
will lead to the end of history and a last man as it creates a consumptive pattern of
man. The adoption of modernization and the concepts that Huntington discusses
will lead to the suppression of the culture. To Fukayamah “Culture – in the form
of resistance to the transformation of certain values to those of democracy - thus
can constitute an obstacle to democratization.” (Fukayamah 1992, p215)
Huntington deals with the traditional institutions as the anti-modernization

institutions, and he calls for or tends to make the modernized institution to
overcome the traditional. Consciousness to him is Modernization. This is a false
consciousness as it aims to weaken the original society.
He does not argue the legitimacy and the justice of the regime. Political
participation is something shallow as related to revolution. Revolution may be
conceptually the result of changing ideas or ideology, of class conflict as one class
exploits the other, or colonial conflict, but I believe revolution is much deeper
than just political participation. Huntington deals with revolution as a penetrated
concept, and tries to merge with the Liberal concept.
But Liberalism is a concept and behavior and not ideology. It destroys the culture
as it tries to create a certain pattern of man. It has no concept for revolution but
rather it imposes on the weak to deal with the reality and makes him try to achieve
and obtain as much as he can.
Dealing with liberalism in such a way will increase the severity of Dualism.
As Fukuyama comment, “The reason why liberal democracy has not become
universal, or remained stable once it has achieved power, lies ultimately in the
incomplete correspondence between peoples and states. (Fukuyama 1992, p212)
Also As Parsons comments,
“As reformulated by Max Weber’s interpreter and follower Talcot Parsons,

modernization came to be seen as the process by which the transition from
traditional to modern forms of social organization which had emerged in the
West would be transferred to non-Western societies, and this was supposed
to be achieved using structural-functionalist approaches. This approach was
built around the conviction that there was a connection between norms,
structures, and the behaviors of actors. The norms were created around
individual interests and values; the structures were developed around roles,
role networks and social class formation; while behavior was built around
motivation and perception of processes and reality.”12 (Nabuudere 1997,
p205)
Huntington doesn’t discuss culture, strategy, consciousness, and poverty. What

does it mean when all the community participates politically and a large
percentage of the masses are poor? Who cares about political participation? What
does political participation matter if the value system has collapsed? He makes a
comparison between Western and Eastern counties, and leaves the reader with the
impression and the certainty of the weakness of the Eastern countries, and their
inability to follow the Western countries because the fault is rooted in their
structure.
Huntington aims to destroy the Third World nations and rebuild new social
structures as he puts them in the Western sphere and the international context in a
complete and comprehensive way. He wants a pattern of nations that seek the
recognition and the approval of the West. He argues from a superior perspective
as he deals with the Eastern revolution. For example he considers that “ revolution
is a peculiarity of Western culture” (Huntington 1968, p264) and he considers that
the revolutions that occurred in the Third World and included insurrection are not
real revolutions. He tries to specify the revolution as a modernizing phenomenon.
He says that Revolution is characteristic of modernization. It is one way of
12
Quoted in Parsons, L.B; Partners in Development, (Pall Mall, London.1969)
modernizing a traditional society, and it was, of course, as unknown to traditional

society in the West as it was unknown to traditional societies elsewhere.13
He deals with dictatorship in the Third World as if it is a rooted in their own

structure, but we should not forget that authoritative systems are the result of fear,
weakness and injustice, and not the result of strength and justice. So the
shortcomings are not within dictatorship in its pure concept.
Comparison between Western and Eastern patterns:
Here I will discuss each differences that Huntington comments on, but it should
be remembered that his view of the concept of revolution is extended from the
“great revolutions” of the West, so the ideal model on which he based his
argument is derived from Western experiences such as the French, American, and
English revolutions.
First: Differences between East and West:
In the “ Western” pattern, the political institutions of the old regime

collapse; this is followed by the mobilization of new groups into politics
and then by the creation of new political institutions. The “eastern”
revolution, in contrast, begins with the mobilization of new groups into
politics and the creation of new political institutions and ends with the
violent overthrow of the political institutions of the old order. (Huntington
1968, p266)
In the West the regime collapses because it is out of date. It falls because of its
weakness, as it becomes unable to deal with the problems and crises in the nation.
It passed through phases - beginning phase, strong phase - until it became weaker
and weaker. It ended because it became incapable of change, so it is a phase as the
society is developing and this transformation is a historical necessity to cope with
these changes and variables.
13
See Huntington (1968), p264
But in the Eastern pattern, including colonial struggle, the regime is strong; those
taking over power maintained the state so as to protect their position and to
possess the state and suppress any opposing force posing a threat to their position.
These political institutions did not pass through phases as the West, but are weak
from the beginning, and used oppression so as to protect its status.
There is no external enemy in the Western pattern; revolution is something

internal. But in the East there is always an external party involved within the state,
so it is at least partly the result of an external cause and not internal. Who
determines the policies of the state and how?
The strength of the Western revolution is extended from the desire to protect the
state, whereas the Eastern revolution stems from injustice; they did not reach the
phase to protect the state as a unity. Fanon believes that the revolution must be
stronger than the state so as to destroy the state, the political, economic, and
cultural structure that the colonizer built within the colony. Fanon examines the
strength of the regime in the colonies, strength that is extended from political and
economic control, and strength that is extended from the weakness of the
indigenous people. The colonial system will never be weak and Fanon is not
waiting until the regime becomes weak as in the West.
Second:
The sequence of the movement from one phase to the next is much more
clearly demarcated in the Western revolution than in the Eastern type…In
Western revolution, political mobilization is the consequence of the collapse
of the old regime; in the Eastern revolution it is the cause of the destruction
of the old regime. (Ibid., p266)
The stages are clear in the West because it is in a developing process, whereas in
the East it is a confused , blurred and unbalanced state. It is weak.
Third:
In Eastern revolutions, the old regime is modern, it has more power and
legitimacy, and hence it does not simply collapse and leave a vacuum of
authority. Instead it must be overthrown. The distinguishing characteristic of the

Western revolution is the period of anarchy or statelessness after the fall of the
old regimes while moderates, counterrevolutionaries and radicals are struggling
for power…In the Western revolution the principal struggles are between
revolutionary groups: in the Eastern revolution they are between one
revolutionary group and established order.” (ibid., p271)
In the West, the struggle is for how the state should be managed, so the conflict
will be inside it and between groups, whereas in the East the conflict centers on
the state as who should manage the state. Huntington use the term “dual power”--
between the masses and the ruling class.
Forth
In the Eastern pattern, Huntington says there is more “legitimacy”—but
legitimacy extended from where? Is it from the masses? If it is from the masses,
then no revolution will occur. Does legitimacy derive from its relation to Europe?
He describes the old regime in the East as “modern,” but is it modern in the way
of “consumption” or does “modern” mean its European-ness?
Fifth:
He argues that in the West, revolution‘s control starts in the Capital and expands
over the countryside, whereas it is the opposite in the East. In Europe the
intellectuals have a major role in determining the regime and also in mobilizing
the masses. The revolution starts from the capital and then expands. Fanon
criticizes the “intellectual” and the bourgeoisie, because they are penetrated by an
external philosophy and are unable to do anything. Because of this the revolution
starts from the countryside and at the end it reaches the capital, because the
capital in the East is the most Europeanized region.
Sixth: He concentrates on frustration as a major factor that leads to the

conjunction between the peasantry and the urban middle class to confront the
political system. “Only the combination of urban opposition with rural opposition
can produce a revolution.” (ibid., p277) , But frustration never achieves the
merger of these classes, neither creates a revolution; it is just a feeling. Fanon

argues that frustration does not create revolution.
Seventh: He deals with the term alienation as the relationship between the
political system and the groups (the masses). He tries to separate the political
system from the individuals and the philosophy and the culture of the state. He
relates the political system to the international context and so he justifies the
revolution, but in reality the alienation is the result of the non-homogeneity within
the state and the masses, and not the result of not adopting international concepts.
Fukuyama says,
“All countries undergoing economic modernization must increasingly

resemble one another: they must unify nationally on the basis of a
centralized state, urbanize, replace traditional forms of social organization
like tribe, sect and family with economically rational ones based on function
and efficiency, and provide for the universal education of their citizens.
Such societies have become increasingly linked with one another through
global markets and the spread of a universal consumer culture. Moreover,
the logic of modern natural science would seem to dictate a universal
evolution in the direction of capitalism.” (Fukuyama 1992, p XV)
But what about the results of revolution?
In the West, after the collapse of the regime, a conflict arises between the
moderates, the traditionalists and the radicals. The radicals seek to end the old
regime. At the end, moderates control the government after struggle. At the last
phase of revolution, there will be absolute leaders who command obedience, so
there is an imposition.
The revolution’s results are reforming the society and achieving progress in
economics and political institutions, so change is achieved, but in the Eastern
revolutions the results are not like the West.
Fanon believes that when revolution fails, change will be negative as the state
adopts the concept of emancipation and revolution from the Western perspective.
This will lead to the same results as the previous system but in a new form; before
it was externalized (from European intervention), but after the failure of the
revolution it will be internalized and more penetrated.
Huntington‘s proposal is derived from a pure realistic and capitalist perspective.

He tries to merge reality with revolution. His view is so contradictory because
revolution creates reality and does not accept the reality. He tries to marginalize
the strength of revolution as he shows the failure of the Third World to achieve a
revolution, and as he makes a comparison between the West and the East, stating
that revolution is rare and its roots from the western culture
Finally, if I want to describe Fanon in relation to Huntington, I will say, They are
the two extremes.
----------------------------------------------
Other Western Scholars:
Jack Goldstone summarizes the various works of scholars who wrote about
revolution, and I will comment on each:
First: Eisenstadt (1966) and Smelster14 (1968) tried to put a framework to

revolution, theories extended from modernization.
Political changes were considered part of the process by which traditional

societies, as they gained in education and economic growth, developed into
modern states. General theories of revolution attempted to explain why the
transition to modernity so often involved violence. (Goldstone 1982, p192).
They deal with revolution as something transitional, which contradicts Fanon’s

proposal. Second, according to them revolution results from the trend of the state
toward modernization. Fanon did not call for modernization, as modernization
goes inversely with the culture. Fanon aims to restore the culture and to be
represented in the political framework of the nation. Third: it is not clear how
“tradition” is defined. It gives the impression that tradition is something bad. It is
14
. S.N Eisenstadt .Modernization: Protest and Change. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice- Hall, 1966)
N.J Smelser, “Toward a Theory of Modernization.” In Essays in Sociological Explanation. (Englewood
Cliffs, NJ Prentice Hall 1968), 125-46.
a term that contains all that the West does not accept. They write as if
modernization determines the culture, rather than the culture determining how we
want to deal with modernization. So their viewpoint differs completely from that
of Fanon.
Second: The psychological approach (Davies, 1962) and (Gurr, 1968, 1970)15
These authors argued that high levels of oppression and misery are generally
accepted as one’s natural lot in life. Only when one expects a better life, and those
expectations are frustrated, do dangerous feelings and resentment against the
social order arise. Thus any change in a society that raises people’s expectations
for a better life without providing the means of meeting those expectations--for
example, cultural contacts with more advanced societies, or rapid but uneven
economic growth--is likely to be politically destabilizing. Frustration and
resentment create Revolution. Gurr is speaking from a superior perspective; if the
West gave the Third World something, the latter would be easily controlled.
Conceptually, their proposal is based on inequality as one seeks to be on the level
of the other, seeking the approval of the other. For example, if we want to apply it
to the colony: if the colonizer met a little bit of the colonized’s expectation, then
revolution is controlled, so there is no revolution.
Third: Another theory, developed largely by Smelster (1963) and Johnson

16
(1966) “ which argue “ that instead of focusing mainly on popular discontent,
one should examine society as a whole, looking at three variables, the economy,
the political system, and the training of young people for new positions. If one
subsystem starts to change independently, the resulting imbalance will leave
people disoriented and open to new values. When such an imbalance becomes
severe, radical ideologies that challenge the legitimacy of the status quo will
become widespread. During such periods, any crisis – a war, a government
bankruptcy, or famine – may bring the government down.” (Ibid., p193)
15
J.C. Davies. Toward a theory of revolution. Am. Social. Rev. 27(5),p19.
C. Johnson. Revolutionary Change. (Boston: Little, Brown.1966)
16
N.J. Smelser. Theory of Collective Behavior. (NY: Free Press, 1963).
Johnson, C. Revolutionary Change. (Boston: Little, Brown, 1966)
In a colony, however, the political system works with economics against the
development of the colonized. The job vacancies or the positions of the young are
limited, and in any case must be in conformity with the polices of the colonizer.
They obtain only low-rank positions. All of this in a colonial state will not lead to
a revolution, because the three variables are consistent with each other.
Fanon sees that the youth should be adopted by the state institutions so as not to
get so much involved in the Western culture which leads them to negative
consequences usually avoided by Western youth exposed to the same factors
17
Forth: Tilly (1972) argued that “discontent and conflict are a normal part of
politics, stressing that political violence is likely to occur only when aggrieved
parties have the means to make such violence count - namely when they have the
resources and the organization to take significant action. In his view, though
modernization might bring discontent, such effects do not necessarily lead to
revolution. Instead, a revolution is likely only when opponents can mobilize the
massive resources necessary to take command of a geographical area and
effectively wrest power from the old regime. (Ibid, p193).
Tilly agrees with Fanon that resentment does not lead to revolution; rather it
needs mobilization and organization to take action. For Tilly, the aim of change is
modernization, which differs from Fanon’ proposal.
Fifth: Barrington Moore (1966) 18:
Barrington Moore moved to the macro-sociological level of comparing

national cases in which the key variables included class relations, the state,
the international economy, and the spread of capitalism into the countryside.
(Foran 1993, p2).
However, he relates these variables from his readings to the Western revolutions,
which are far from the style and structure of the Third World states. But these
proposals may be congruent to some extent with Fanon’s, because colonialism is
in essence a capitalist system.
17
Tilly, C. (1973). “Does modernization breed revolution?” Comp. Pol., 5( 425), p-47.
18
Barrington Moore. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making
of the Modern World. (Boston: Beacon, 1966)
Conclusion-
The theories that have been written by Western authors have a specific pattern,
philosophy and view which differs completely from Fanon’s proposal.:
 What exactly differs is the basis or the background from which each deals
with revolution. However, the Western authors view revolution as a result
of the development of the nation, whereas Fanon sees revolution as the
beginning for building of the nation.
 They view colonialism as a de facto situation to be accepted, but Fanon
views it as a thing that should be changed.
 Revolution for them is a transition phase, whereas to Fanon it is a
replacement.
 There is no external force that threatens the autonomy and the unity of the
nation, whereas in the colony, there are new kinds of people who are
involved within the nation. There is no interference by another state in the
development of the nation.
 Revolution is based on how classes function with each other; there is an
ideology. In the Third World, classes appeared as the result of colonialism
and function in a very confused way.
 Revolution occurred as a result of a vacuum within the state that should be
filled. This occurs through revolution. Fanon tries to create a vacuum so as
to stimulate the colonized toward revolution and change.
 They do not propose the idea of strategy or program or targets.
 They superimpose realism on revolution, which makes it no longer
revolution but rather a transformation.
 They don’t talk about consciousness, which is so critical and crucial to
Fanon.
 Most interpretations of theories are derived from the French Revolution
experience or from a Marxist approach. (See Zagorin 1973, p30-32)
--------------------------------------
Part 3 / South Africa 144
Chapter 8
South Africa*1
“ Cape Town was the half-way house between East and West, and in due
course North and South--Europe and Africa--met in the interior. (Marquard
1962, p1)
This part discusses the applicability of Fanon’s ideas and concept to South Africa.
The first chapter gives an idea about the history of South Africa, the evolution of
the racist concepts, the oppression of the indigenous people, and how they were
dominated by the settlers (British and Dutch) and became a marginalized party in
South Africa.
Chapter two talks about the apartheid system and the two extreme systems within
the nation: a system for the white, and a system for the black set by the white.
This chapter shows how the colony is dual (divided) into two extremes.
The last chapter shows the philosophy of the colonized for the struggle against
colonialism, and the shortcomings of the political party.
Why South Africa?
Brief History of South Africa:
Before 1652 African tribes lived in South Africa, then the Dutch came and settled
in it, a group called Boers and then Afrikaners. They fought the tribes, built their
community, and adopted South Africa as their homeland. Later the British came
and colonized it, and their culture started to penetrate that society. In 1860s
diamonds and gold were discovered, and the Boer and the British monopolized all
the natural resources, and the natives became workers exploited as a labor force to
an extreme level. Then the whites built a nation in which the rights were only for
them. The Afrikaners controlled the nation and became more racist. Eventually
the natives struggle against the system until it collapsed, ostensibly. Also, since
1
For more information about South Africa, demography, maps, chronological events, see Annex.
the beginnings of that history some laborers were brought from Asian countries
and India to work for the whites, later becoming a distinct group.
South Africa is considered a good example because of the concentration of

colonialism inside it. First, South Africa was colonized for more than 350 years,
so the effects of colonialism accumulated deeply through time. Second, in terms
of number: the colonizers (the British and the Dutch) consisted of about 16
million of the population, which a relatively large number. Third: the involvement
of the colonizer in South Africa: the British were concerned with economic
purposes and as they discovered diamonds and gold, they continued their
existence in South Africa even after the WWII. Also the concentration of
colonialism was structured through the application of the two external
philosophies of colonialism, Boer colonialism and British colonialism; one is
settlement colonialism and the other is a capital colonialism which is related to
imperialism, so it is an intensive case. The former built their existence on the
philosophy of religion and racism: religion as they believed in Calvinism, with its
tendency toward a sense of superiority as Christians, and racism as a belief in the
inherent superiority of whites over blacks.
After the discovery of gold and diamonds in South Africa, it became an attractive
colony and many European companies invested in it, involving it deeply in the
capitalist system and lending it a structure which tended toward the development
of a proletarian class, a humiliated and oppressed class built on economic
exploitation and also on racism. Fanon was much affected by the philosophy of
Marx, so it is applicable here. The history of South Africa became greatly
involved in international concepts because colonialism was so intense. The
internal structure of the indigenous people was affected by international conflicts.
South Africa is a result of deep experience structured through the conflicts and the
contradictions that were imposed on the country. They became part of South
Africa. The nature of the African Society and the European society differ
extremely in their own cultures, two extreme cultures, two extreme histories, two
extremes of color. Neither understood or assimilated the other, and one imposed
its philosophy at the expense of suppressing the other. Suppressing the other
meant first the stagnation of the original one, and second meant its involvement
with the Western sphere.
The history and the philosophy of South Africa contain many of contradictions, as
two kinds of species tried to replace another kind of “species” of people. As
Fanon saw colonialism, the evolution of its history was accompanied by the
evolution of these contradictions and conflicts. This may be structured severely
during the apartheid system era--the highest stage of racism--in which the
philosophy of the nation was written and applied through the constitution and the
laws of the nation.
The development of the historical context of South Africa was accompanied by

the period of the emergence of Frantz Fanon’s writings and others that affected
the vision of the blacks of themselves, their existence and philosophy of their own
nations. The African liberation movements appeared and developed in the 20th
century. At that time many writers, including Fanon, affected many scholars,
leaders, blacks, liberation movements, and the black movements in building their
philosophy of emancipation. So South Africa is not far removed from Fanon. On
the contrary, for at the time of the appearance of Fanon’s writings, the politics of
South Africa took a new path, in the 1960s particularly.
South Africa is considered the most developed in Sub-Saharan Africa, “ It is a

major economic power. It has the highest gross national product in Africa. It is
also the most highly industrialized country on the continent.” (Moerdijk 1981,
p11)
Finally, South Africa is a good sample by which to study the relation between
North and South, East and west, Capitalism and Socialism, colonizer and the
colonized, black and white, Traditionalism and Modernization, tribalism and
nationalism, proletarian class and the dominant class, master and slave, and lastly
Europe and the Third World.
History of South Africa 2:
“ The master-slave relationship also entails a hidden tragedy for the master
and a promising future for the slave. For sooner or later, the master finds
himself in an “existential impasse.” The recognition for which he risked his life
proves to have no authentic value. This becomes clear upon considering why,
in the first place, the master engaged in the fight and the disappointed way in
which the victory concluded. Before the fight, the master was an autonomous
person seeking validation through the other’s recognition. After the fight, the
master attained recognition from one whom he made less human, merely an
animal or a thing. What initially precipitated the fight was a human desire
directed to another human desire. Now it has become a desire directed to a
slave--a thing or an animal. The master is therefore recognized by a mere
thing or an animal. The recognition he attains in inauthentic because he is
recognized by someone not worthy. Finding he is on the “wrong track,” he is
never satisfied. Thus the master is a prisoner in a situation of his own
making.” ( Bulhan 1985, p104)
In order to understand the recent situation in South Africa, we should go in depth

in its history, for there are concepts developed by the accumulated events of South
Africa, until it reached to an extreme phase of racism and inequality. Also, in
order to understand Fanon deeply, one must understand its history. Fanon does not
talk about history, but deals with a phase that colonialism effects through
accumulation of events structuring the community and building a pattern; I think
it is difficult to understand South Africa without understanding its roots,
especially those of the apartheid system.
Before telling the history of South Africa, I would like to analyze each element
involved in making that history, and how each group looked at the others. The
vision of each group of itself and the other affected the behavior of each one as to
strengthen its existence and on the other hand to marginalize the other. The
conflicts that arose in South Africa were results of the contradictory visions of
2
I have drawn heavily on the historical narration of Weidner as I describe the
history of South Africa, so most of the information is taken from his book.
each element toward the other from an early stage. History is also very crucial
because the claims and the ideology of the Afrikaners were based mainly on it. So
the philosophy of existence of the external groups who colonized South Africa
depends on history.
Its history is full of myths that were necessary to justify the Europeans’ and the
Afrikaners’ existence. Mariane Cornevin in Apartheid Power and Historical
Falsification demonstrates how specific events in the history of South Africa were
exaggerated and how these events were used as a determinant for the vision of the
others and later were used as references to legitimate the existence and the polices
of the colonizer.
The problem of the writings of the history of South Africa is that most writers
who wrote history were European and they didn’t assimilate the difference. So
history was written from a different perspective, especially in describing the
African tribes; the image of the original society is very bad, the indigenous people
described as if they are on the same level as animals and even less. This image
affected the blacks’ view of themselves and how they later dealt with the idea of
tribalism as a bad thing.3
Fanon describes in chapter four of BSWM the way Mannoni views colonialism,
and he criticizes him because he aims to be subjective but at the end he served to
strengthen and legitimize white domination. This happened not because the author
intended to do so, rather because he was sealed in his superiority.
I would like to talk about each group involved in the history of South Africa and
how it viewed and interacted with the others.
3
See Thompson (1985), Ch 1 and 2
Tribes:
The Afrikaner destroyed tribalism, and after it became weak and backward, they
resurrected and activated it, claiming that it would achieve the stability of the
African society.
Before the arrival of the Europeans, South Africa was inhabited by tribes, the
basic unit of the South African society. The Europeans found two tribes at the
time of their arrival: the Khoi–Khoi (Hottentot) and San (the Bushmen)4 who
spoke the “Khoisan language,” and as they get much deeper and more inside
South Africa they faced more tribes.
The tribes were on various levels of development. They lived as hunters,

herdsmen, and cultivators, and were migratory. At that time there were no
boundaries and they used to migrate for a long distances; there was no conflict
about land, as it was plentiful. Usually these tribes used to increase (divide) into
more tribes as the tribe became larger and larger, or if there was an internal
conflict, or as a result of the death of the chief. The tribes were not peasants (in
the meaning as a specified group) and they were related to the tribal system and
not to the land. They were also not ethnic groups, but simply tribes, period.
The Bushmen and Hottentots existed in South Africa long before the arrival of the
European. They were very simple and the least developed among the tribes.
European settlers readily fought them, especially where the tribes were in weak
positions, and these two tribes collapsed completely. They were small in numbers,
and some were killed, some migrated to the Kalahari deserts, and some became
slaves to the Europeans.
The Sotho and Nguni tribes (see diagram p173) came from Mozambique before
the arrival of the Europeans, were organized tribes, and used to divide into tribes
in which each adopted a name for it. The Sotho and the Nguni were closely
4
The Europeans called them the Hottentots and the Bushmen as describing the tribes’
primitiveness.
related and their languages were derived from the Bantu language. Also the
extended tribes from each used to merge with each other. On the other hand
conflicts existed also between tribes.
At that time the natural life of the African people was structured by continues
movement within the land. After the colonialization of South Africa, the
controversy of “Who came first?” became crucial. I think this is a useless
controversy and it leads to a vicious circle. First, the Boers came from Holland
and they differ physically and culturally from the tribes. If the land was empty,
that didn’t justify possessing it. Second, at that time, with the natural life of the
African people structured by migration, there was no threat on their existence on
their land. Going into controversies such as that the original place for the Zulu
was Mozambique is unfair.
There was an internal system within the tribe, to organize and manage its own life.
The tribes had their own culture that achieved homogeny among them in the
society. They were of Bantu origins. Williamson describes the Bantu, saying,
“In the aboriginal culture of the Bantu there are: elaborate political
organization, with high status attached to chieftainship; a polygamous marriage
system; sedentary agriculture with a cattle economy and currency; and a system
of values emphasizing the tribal tradition and the sanctity of ancestors. The
chieftain is responsible for the actions of the members of his village and
consequently attempts to maintain conformity to the mores. There is an
emphasis on reciprocity and generosity in the Bantu society. Industriousness is
highly rewarded, especially on the part of the wife. In premarital sex mores
considerable permissiveness is enjoyed.” (Williamson 1958, p186)
As the life of the tribes became more in touch with the Europeans, they became
more alert to the dangers of the European existence. Their existence meant that
they were invaders but they did not relate that to the possession of land. The
Bantu used to call them “ the evil from the sea.” They recognized their danger
and fought back, but because of the Europeans’ superior military power and
tactics, these tribes became slaves and later workers for them.
The European built an image of the tribe and the black individual, strengthening
the image throughout history. As the Dutch came to South Africa, many Dutch
wrote about South Africa and the tribes, describing them as animals. The
accumulation of these writings built a bad image of the black man, in which the
reader felt sympathy with the European image. They wrote from a superior
perspective. And very few wrote positively about the African tribes.
By the time the directors of the Dutch East India Company decided to create a
supply station at the Cape of Good Hope in the mid-seventeenth century,
Europeans thought themselves vastly superior to Africans. They were
predisposed to despise people who were so unlike themselves in physical
appearance and social behavior; and for the Dutch this predisposition was
confirmed by participation in the Atlantic slave trade along the West African
coastline. Throughout Northern Europe, Africans were stereotyped as
idolatrous and licentious, thieving and lying, lazy and dirty. The stereotype
persisted throughout the eighteenth century, spiced by reports of wars and
massacres, and allegations of cannibalism and sexual relations between apes
and Africans. Abolitionists as well as defenders of the slave trade had no
doubt that Africans were inferior to Europeans. Explanation for African
inferiority varied. Environmental determinism was a common explanation:
tropical heat combined with alleged abundance of tropical natural conditions
was responsible. Nevertheless, few Europeans doubted that Africans were
members of the human species. They were immature people, to be treated like
children. They were lagging a thousand years or more behind Europeans. This
line of thought led to justification of slavery. 5 (Thompson1985, p71-72).
Fanon argues how the colonizer describes the colonized “as insensible to ethics;
he represents not only the absence of values, but also the negation of values. He
is, let me dare to admit, the enemy of values, and in this sense he is the absolute
evil.” (Fanon 1963, p34). Also the colonizer rebukes the colonized’s customs, as
Fanon says: “The customs of the colonized people, their traditions, their myths--
5
Quoted in: Irving Hexham, The Irony of Apartheid, (Toronto, 1981) 56-69
above all, are the very sign of that poverty and of their constitutional depravity.”
(Fanon 1963, p34)
A few wrote positively about the tribes:
Summing up in a report to the director of the company (Stavenisse), Governor

Simon van der Stel described them ( tribes: Mpondomisi, Mpondo,Thembu and
Xhosa) as “civil,” polite and talkative” people, living in peaceful, stable polities
under chiefs who were “much respected and beloved subjects, in an
“exceedingly fertile and incredibly populous country, swarming with cows,
calves, oxen, steers and goats as well as elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, tigers
leopards, elands and harts, and producing “three sorts of corn,” many vegetables
and wild fruits and iron.”6 (Thompson 1985, p78-79)
Van der Stel, who was no sentimentalist, added,
“ It would be impossible to buy any slaves there, for they would not part with
their children, or any of their connections for anything in the world, loving one
another with a most remarkable strength of affection.7” (Ibid., p78-79)
However, the few Europeans who wrote something good about the tribes, give an
indication that one should be very alert in dealing with knowledge. The matter
doesn’t mean a lot of writings, rather the concepts and the philosophy that these
writings were built upon. Also it means that sometimes the few writings may be
more truthful and honest than a lot of writings and may lead to the understanding
and the explanation of many vague things that these writings fail to explain.
That’s why Fanon argues that the man should always think and question and not
surrender to the definitions and concepts that control the world, that this is what
distinguishes a man from another man. Let me go further toward dealing with the
European theories and knowledge regardless of which field--political, social
psychological: the adoption of this knowledge without consciousness is somehow
problematic. For example, Bulhan in his book explains the American
6
Quoted in John Bird, The Annals of Natal, 1495-1845, Vol2 p 46-47.
7
Ibid., p45-46
psychological theories and he analyses them in relation to the Third World, but at
the end he concludes that these theories should be revised if they are to be applied
to the Third World.
Fanon criticizes the political party because it adopts the philosophy of the political
party from a European perspective, and that’s why, as Fanon explains, the party
collapses and fails. So if we want to relate that to the relation between Europe and
the Third World, the European knowledge and theories should be revised, because
they play a crucial role in structuring and building the concepts that the Third
World nations are built upon, which plays an efficient role in penetrating the
society.
This may be relevant to the way the Africans dealt with tribalism; they negated it
and adopted nationalism. Part of their negation of tribalism derived from the
Europeans’ vision of tribalism that resulted from their superiority. The adoption of
that superior vision meant the approval and the consent of their superiority on the
one hand, and on the other hand meant going into the sphere of their superiority.
As these tribes became more in touch with the Europeans who possessed and
controlled the economy and the land, the weaker they became as they started to
cope with the new concepts and polices, which led to detribalization.
Detribalization also became clearer when a labor class formed, as the blacks
became workers for the Europeans who possessed the tools of production. They
exerted racist policies, so here racist policy was accompanied by the creation of a
class.
Urbanization, industrialization, racism, poverty and the foreign laws that managed
the state, all these changes penetrated tribalism. It became something backward
and bad.
In conclusion, colonialism created a dual penetrated society in South Africa.

Although tribalism ceased to develop, it continued to exist. The West’s effects
stimulated the creation of classes: a labor class, and the colonizer who possessed
the tools of production, a rich class and a poor class. Also the creation of a racist
system created a division: black and white, civilized and primitive, developed and
underdeveloped.
All of this may be related to Fanon as he describes the peasantries, but in South
Africa they are the tribes of which the society consists. Fanon describes them as
those who worked hard to protect their customs and to prevent penetration by the
colonizer, and they are themselves the real truth. Although Fanon criticizes their
backwardness, what they need is to be involved in the struggle experience in order
to eliminate the accumulated backwardness and not allow itself to be deprived or
go completely within the capitalist sphere.
--------------------------------------------------
The Boer (The Afrikaners):
Every political mythology bears the stamp of its context. (Thompson 1985,
p25)
The philosophy of the Afrikaner based on the extreme exaggeration toward the
view of one-self and toward the other, they tried to complicate the simple society
of the tribes, and simplify the complicated structure of their own.
The Dutch (Boer) settled in S.A in 1657. They came to S.A from South Holland
where they were a Protestant minority within a Catholic society. They were very
isolated in their own country and used to manage themselves and to abandon as
much as possible the policy of their state and depended on themselves more than
on the official employees. They came to South Africa because they thought that
the situation was better than in their own country and that they could strengthen
their financial position. They didn’t know what colonialism meant and some
didn’t know why they were in South Africa.
Their hard life at the beginning in S.A helped in creating privacy and autonomy
for their group, and they worked very hard to achieve that as the basis for their
self-protection in South Africa. The Boers were extremists as a religious group.

They believed that they differed from other people, being superior and therefore
justified in everything they did, having tenets and qualifications and uniqueness
that others didn’t have.
They isolated and detached themselves from all the external effects and created
a special pattern for their lives and were efficient and effective in managing
their own life. Their life was characterized by hardness and harshness. They
believed in the “Old Testament Bible” and adopted the Calvinist approach and
the Jacob Arminius explanation. They believed deeply of the idea of
“salvation,” that Calvin himself warred of that idea to control people. They
believed that some of the Christian will be emancipated and not everyone called
Christian, and the Chosen Group is the one that did not abandon its loyalty to
the traditional religion and the Dutch Bible. This idea created their belief in
their supremacy. (Waydner 1962, p125)
As Moodie comments:
“ In every People in the world is embodied a Divine Idea and the task of each
people is to build upon that idea to perfect it. So God created the Afrikaner
People with a unique language, a unique philosophy of life and their own
history and tradition in order that they might fulfill a particular calling and
destiny here in the southern corner of Africa. We must stand guard on all that is
peculiar to us and build upon it. We must believe that God has called us to be
servants of his righteousness in this place. We must walk the way of obedience
to faith. (Moodie 1975, p110-111)
Religion played a crucial rule in structuring the philosophy and the existence of
the Boers, which was reflected in the style of nation-building and in the way they
determined their relations to others.
Later some German and French settlers reached South Africa, having been
exposed to religious discrimination in their countries, and they merged with the
Boers and formed one community. So the Afrikaners consist of Dutch, Germans
and French, all with the same religious concept. They merged with each other and
formed a new concept, new culture, new language.8 They ensured their existence
in South Africa as their original homeland and cut off any relation with their
mother countries. They had very strange culture and contradictory characters; the
missions used to criticize their way of life as contradictory to Christian rules. In
South Africa, they were very isolated from others and had their own world,
remaining relatively unaffected by the development of ideas and concepts in the
larger world.
They found South Africa suitable for exerting their superiority and belief, and
they worked hard to structure their philosophy into reality. Many leaders and
politicians were created within their community; also they built an internal system
so as to manage their lives effectively. Their isolated life in their homeland helped
them to manage their lives alone. Their isolation strengthened their beliefs,
especially their belief of their superiority. They built myths, history, and culture,
and mixed them together and developed them without allowing any external
effects to penetrate what they built. Their religious concept and the belief of their
superiority made them consider themselves as a race. That made them a
distinguished group that had its own features, but on the other hand that also made
them unable to assimilate or to be assimilated by the others; The British looked at
them as a low-rank group, their relation to the missionaries was bad, there was a
continuous conflict between them and the tribes, they also abandoned the VOC
because they didn’t like its policies, and in their original country, Holland, they
were not involved and were isolated as a different ethnic group.
They created a master-slave relationship with tribes enslaving them. They

exploited the slave women sexually, which resulted in the existence of a new
group (the Bastered) and usually they did not confess of the existence of that
group. Later this new group formed “the colored,” who comprised nearly 9% of
the whole population. Thus the Boers accepted the misuse and the exploitation of
the other that is derived from their beliefs.
8
Their language is a mixture of various languages: German , French , Dutch and also the
language of the Africans.
Through their history they established three institutions which played a crucial
and efficient role to achieve unity and to protect their existence in South Africa
and also to reflect and achieve harmony within the community so as to strengthen
and develop their culture. These institutions reflected politically the culture of the
Africaners. These are:
1. The National Party: Within two years of establishing the Union of South
Africa in 1912, the Afrikaners established the National Party (NP) under the
leadership of Hertzog, so as to create a specific pattern that specialized their
culture and nationalism. First they aimed to be on the same level as the British
and also to eliminate poverty, especially after the Anglo-Boer War.
2. The Dutch Reform Church consisted of three churches, the Nederduitse

Gereformeerede Kerk or NGK(1665); the spiritual wing of the government, the
Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk or NHK, and the Gereformeerde Kerk or GK.
These churches created the basis and the adaptation of religious concepts
extended from Calvinism. Religion was considered a reference for the Afrikaners’
ideas, concepts, decisions and policies. Most of the leaders, like Kruger, Malan
and others who played an important role in the Afrikaners’ history were members
in the NGK.
The NGK is the church of the South African establishment. The great majority
of senior political and administrative officials regularly attend Sunday service,
and, in a society in which patronage is decisive, bring in their wake everyone
who needs to demonstrate allegiance to a superior in order to obtain a place in
the power hierarchy. (Cornevin 1980,p36)
3. The Broederbond: “The Christian Nationalist programme of the first National

Party was also adopted by the early members of the Broederbond (Band of
Brothers), founded in 1918 as an official Afrikaner mutual-help associatio , which
became a secret society in 1924.” (Cornevin 1980,p37)
It is regarded as the secret organization behind the scenes which directs both
churches and National Party. Eighty percent of the Afrikaner clergymen are
said to be members of the Broederbond, and so are practically all the

ministers of the present cabinet. Moreover, the Broederbond dominates the
Africans-speaking press organs and education. It tries to create such solidarity
among the Afrikaners, and to exert so much moral pressure on government
people‘s representatives and officials, that the Afrikaners’ position in the
South African economy is improved, so that as a group, they will come to
control a larger part of the national business activity. (Snellen 1967, p 297)
The existence of their institutions set the policies and directed the behavior of the
Boers, organizing, formalizing, and strengthening their existence.
From the beginning of their existence they faced two threats: first the African
tribes, and later the British:
1. In the case of the tribes, they fought and overcame them, and some
tribes became slaves to them, and some migrated to the boundaries
of South Africa.
2. They hated the British and considered them an enemy, because
Britain dominated the region and trade, and interfered in their
relationship to the slaves. Also, after the discovery of gold and
diamonds the British wanted to monopolize the natural resources.
Even after the establishment of the Union, the Boers cooperated with the British
because they were defeated in the war, and also the majority status of the blacks
was a threat to the British, and the Afrikaner forced them to cooperate. They had
a superior attitude even toward the British, and tried to emancipate themselves
from Britain. Even during the World Wars, they had sympathy toward the
Germans, but they were forced to be with Britain for the benefits derived thereby.
They wanted to end the British colonialism, to control the state completely,
ending Britain’s domination. However, 40% of the whites were British. Second,
the economic power of Britain in South Africa was strong. Because of that they
tried to limit their role in the two World Wars as much as possible. After 1948
their power to control the state increased as Britain got out of South Africa, and
the core relationship between the natives and the Afrikaners appeared obviously.
The development of capitalism and the superiority concepts that spread in Europe
helped them in controlling and ensuring their existence in S.A. In the 18th century
slavery was taking a new direction, but it still existed, and many slaves were
imported from other nations to work for the whites. In 1834 Britain abolished
slavery, but actually it did not end completely. In the 19th century the world
adopted new concepts of capitalism and racism, and slavery ended. Racism,
superiority, cultural penetration, economic exploitation and later globalization
surfaced in the world.
In the second half of the 19th century their existence became a crisis because the
master-slave relationship that ensured and strengthened slavery’s existence
became inactive. The apartheid system demonstrates this weakness, as the whites
opposed their superiority by force. It is interesting that there was a very close
and remarkable relationship between S.A and Israel in the second half of the 20th
century. This can be explained by the fact that there is something common and
similar between them, as James Adam describes in The Unnatural Alliances.
Fanon doesn’t discuss settlement colonialism, but his definition of colonialism is

more applicable to the Boers than to the British, because they wanted to replace
the natives and not just exploit them. They fought the tribes to impose and protect
their existence through military superiority. Their existence was more related to
religious and racist ideas than to economic goals. They built their culture, which
they displayed through their institutions so as to achieve harmony in their
community. Religion was crucial for their unity and for their creating their
uniqueness in relations to the other.
However, their existence in the end was illegal and colonialist, but with the
difference that they built a culture to compete with and suppress the native
culture, so the cultural relationship is more severe, whereas in capitalist
colonialism, the culture of the British already existed and was imposed on the
colony and did not compete with the colonized’s culture. The British aimed to
exploit South Africa economically to strengthen the existence of their mother

country, while the Boers exploited South Africa to strengthen their existence
inside it. Here the state competes with itself. Fanon argues that colonialism was
not the result of a controversy, but rather a violent imposition, as the Boers
imposed themselves by force, as they fought the tribes and as they exploited and
enslaved them and also as they fought the British.
-----------------------------------
The British:
Capitalism and colonialism
In the 19th century Britain settled in S.A and managed the settlement. It was one
of many colonies that Britain dominated. Its existence was for commercial and
economic purposes. Britain did not get much involved in S.A or even care about
the indigenous people to assimilate them or understand their culture and beliefs,
because they believed in the superiority of their race. The British missionaries
sent from the mother country intended both to end slavery and to impose British
culture.
Britain’s main thrust was for economic benefits, and its involvement increased
after the discovery of diamonds and gold in the middle of the 19th century. So the
existence of Britain in S.A expressed the economic exploitation of capitalism and
the sovereignty of the British culture, imposing the superiority of the British
civilization through penetrating the other. For example Cecil Rhodes - who played
a crucial role in South Africa for imposing the sovereignty of the British - was
aiming at achieving his idea of “equal right for all civilized men.” (Anzovin 1987,
p10). It should be noted that the British imposed their existence by force, and any
group who tried to compete with them was oppressed. Fanon argues that “The
challenge of the colonial world is the untidy affirmation of an original idea
propounded as an absolute.” (Fanon 1963,p33)
South Africa developed economically and demographically after the arrival of the
British, especially after the discovery of the mines. But that was for Britain’s own
benefit and comfort, not for the sake of the natives. This is obvious as one
compares the region of the colonized and the colonizer, which Fanon describes as
two extremes.
The Colored:
The colored were the result of the sexual exploitation of black women by the
whites. Gibson argues that the Boer exploited a large number of women badly
from the original tribes and also from the slaves brought from the regions near
South Africa. This sexual exploitation resulted in 1.9 million new colored. (See
Gibson, p69), or about 9.5% of the population (Cornevin 1980, p22)
During the first twenty years (1652-72), seventy-five percent of children born to
slave mothers had European fathers. (Marquard 1962, p75)9. In time the colored
came to be recognized as a separate group whose physical appearance revealed
their mixed Euro-black origin.
Philosophically, these people were the result of the relation between the black and
white. They blurred the situation as the genes of the black and white merged with
each other.
Asians:
Asians included Indians and others, with the Indians comprising nearly three
percent of the population, living mostly in Natal. They were given more
rights than the blacks. They were hardworking and commercially apt,
proving their professionalism in trade. The government disliked this, as it
considered them an inassimilable race and tried to restrict their existence so
as to make them return to their country. Also the blacks didn’t like the
Asians, because the latter had more rights and looked at blacks from a
superior perspective.
9
Quoted in Sonnabend and Sofer, South Africa’s Stepchildren, South African Affairs Pamphlets.
History: XXX – 1800:
“The violence which has ruled over the ordering of the colonial world. “(Fanon
1963, p33)
The Portuguese were the first to reach S.A, in 1488 and 1479, but they were not
interested in it and preferred to settle in Mozambique as a strategic route toward
the Far East. Before the 16th century, trade controlled the economics of the world.
And as a result of the competition between the Europeans countries, each wanted
to control the major routes and strategic regions that connected them to the
outside world.
The importance of South Africa appeared in the period when the Dutch East India
Company (VOC) set up a station in Capetown (Table Bay) to provide the passing
sailors with fresh food and also for hospitalizing them, especially from smallpox
that spread between them. Later the VOC decided to settle in the Cape of Good
Hope for as strategic route for the Indian Ocean trade.
It should be noted that the VOC had more power than the Dutch government itself
and S.A was one of many commercial centers that the company administered
throughout the world. “It was a powerful, monopolistic, chartered company that
enjoyed political influence and patronage so long as it increased the shareholders’
dividends.” (Marquard 1962, p3). It didn’t plan to settle in all S.A, but within the
Cape borders, and did not want to increase its boundaries lest it also increase its
responsibilities and the security efforts.
In 1657 the VOC brought three ships loaded with settlers for the purpose of
agriculture and pasture, to provide fresh food. The settlers would become known
as Boers and later as Afrikaners. The VOC leased them the land, but they proved
their inability in agriculture in the Cape of Good Hope, so the company brought
slaves from different regions (India, Mozambique, Madagascar, East Africa, and
Melayo – Muslims), which later formed a distinct group within South Africa.
When the Dutch came to the Cape, the African tribes--San (Khoi-Khoi) and
Bushmen (Hottentots)--were there and they did not understand the reason for the
whites’ presence or the danger it posed. The whites wanted to enslave them and to
take their livestock and lands. These tribes refused and the result was that many
were killed, other escaped to Kalahari Desert, some became slaves, and it ended
with the collapse of these tribes. They could not face the military superiority of
the whites, who treated them badly and exploited them sexually which resulted in
the creation of the “colored community” or “illegal sons.”
Later this colored community established a semi-tribal community known later as

“Gerika”. That resulted in overlapping of genes between the blacks and whites.
This point became very sensitive in the 20th century, because the whites claim
their pure race and supremacy. 10
The Boer did not like the VOC and decided to go far away from the Cape of Good
Hope because:
 The VOC exploited them, and used to buy the yields for low prices.
 The VOC did not promote their superiority over the slaves.
 They did not like the instruction the VOC imposed on them.
 They want to strive for better lands for agriculture and pasture.
 It is interesting, that some of them were kidnapped and sent to S.A, and
some were promised large amounts of wealth. When they faced realty,
they were shocked, so they decided to go far away, and many did not
understand their existence in S.A and even did not understand the idea of
colonialism.
In 1860s, the Protestant people from France (Huguenots) came to S.A because
they were exposed to religious oppression. In addition, some Germans came from
their homeland for the same reason. The Boers welcomed them and they merged
with their community, which strengthened the Boers.
10
See Anzovin (1987), p24
The Boer went to the east of the Cape near Fish River. They faced the Bantu
tribes, who came to S.A at the beginning of the 17th century and they drove out the
Khiosan people at the outset. They were good in agriculture and livestock work,
and were good fighters. Also they were organized and strong. They met the Boer
in 1702, but the conflict arose strongly in 1775, as the number of the Bantu
increased and they wanted to extend their land for pasture and increase the
quantity of the livestock. However, they differed extremely from the life-style of
the Boers. In 1779 the wars started between them. The Boers used to call them the
“Kaffir Wars’’ because they believed the blacks were ethnics, and the blacks used
to call them “the evil souls’’ coming from the sea. The Boer conquered them
because of their own military and tactical superiority. The Boers reached the
“Graaff Reinet” in 1786 and in 1795, and they left the VOC because it refused to
help them in the Kaffir War. The nature of the conflict between the Boers and the
Bantu (Xhosa) helped the Boer in building an army so as to protect themselves.
British Colonialism:
In 1795 the British came to the Cape according to the Dutch request, to protect it
from French interests, as France wished to control the sea route to the East. At
that period The VOC became weaker and weaker until it ended in the 1800s.
Practically, Britain occupied the Cape in 1806 and its existence was insured after
Vienna Conference in 1815. Britain started to impose its control and to impose
amendments within the system that resulted in the creation of the conflict between
them and the Boers.
The changes that Britain made:
 In 1807, it abolished the slave trade, which provoked and angered the
Boers, because the slaves were the labor force for them, so that affected
their economics badly. Also because of their feeling of supremacy, they
did not assimilate the equality between them and the blacks. For them it
was the “unbearable equality”.
 It changes the Land Reform Act, changing land division). It considered the
land its own. The Europeans possessed the land as if it was not for
everyone and without the knowing the tribes. The tribes didn’t recognize
the meaning of possession of land, and many signed treaties with the
Europeans without recognizing what that meant.
 Imposed taxes.
 Priests from Scotland were brought for the new English settlers, who
imposed their religious ceremonies that differed from the Dutch, which
weakened the Dutch church authority.
 They imposed the English language as the official one. This showed how
the British aimed to impose their culture and civilization so as to be a
sovereign one.
Also the arrival of Britain was accompanied by the arrival of missionary societies,
who did the following:
 Settled in Graaf Reint (the place of the Boers).
 Aimed to free the slaves from Boer control.
 Affected the British policy toward the Boers, describing them as
“oppressors” and “unjust.”
 Helped the colored community to leave the Cape and to settle near the
Orange River, and established a group “Gerika” so as to protect
themselves from African tribes.
 Helped annex the Hottentots and the Bantu to the police so as to protect
the boundaries. Here also the police were used as a tool to allow the
management of the country to be controlled by the missionaries.
 Established a court to judge the Boers for their inhumanity, writing reports
to London, describing the brutality of the Boers. The Boers resisted them
and created myths describing their heroes and God’s will. They used to
exaggerate and enlarge the small events and to create myths which
affected the history of the region deeply. One of the famous events that
later became an important myth is the “Slacter’s Nek”: Some of the Boers
were killed by the British in a rebellion against British sovereignty, and
later this became a symbol for grievance, sadness toward the

commissionaires, and one of the most famous events in their history.
In 1820 Britain brought about 5000 British settlers who emigrated as a result of
unemployment in Britain, and this led the British to give more attention to South
Africa, and later they adopted South Africa as their homeland and comprised
about forty percent of the Afrikaner population. They settled on the boundaries of
the Fish River as Britain tried to end the conflict between the Xhosa and the Boer.
The Xhosa continued raiding and destroying their yields. During that period, the
English settlers depended on the Boers in obtaining their needs, and that enriched
the Boers, especially one called “Beit Ratif.” The new British settlers became
dissatisfied and decided to leave agriculture and work in trade. They established “
Port Elisabeth” and East London.
In 1818 John Philips became the head of the colony, and called for numerous
changes, which later became known as Ordinance 50:
 The equality between people regardless their race or ethnicity.
 The division of land between the people, so that each could exert its own
civilization, and for this to be trade relationships only.
 The slaves and the whites must have the same civil rights.
 Elimination of the “pass laws,” according to which the slaves who had no
land were arrested if they were found in the colonization regions.
The Great Trek:
As a result of all the above, in 1835 the Boers decided to go far away. In 1838
they settled in the Natal, and this was called “the Great Trek”. Natal was ruled
by the Zulu tribe under the chief of Dingaan.
Piet Ratief went to meet Dingaan to negotiate with him for the transfer of land:
but the Zulu chief played for time and asked the Trekkers, as an earnest of their
good intentions, to recover some stolen cattle for him. They did this, and a
treaty was drawn up by which the Trekkers were given a large part of Natal. As
with most treaties signed with African chiefs, Dingaan probably intended this
land for use and not for ownership. But whatever his intentions, the ease with
which the cattle had been recovered by the Europeans had frightened him, and
he determined to kill the white wizards. At a royal feast he had Retief and
seventy followers murdered, and sent his soldiers to kill all the white people
they could find. Vengeance followed about a year later when, on 16 Dec 1938,
the Zulu were decisively defeated at the Battle of Blood River (under the
leadership of Pretorio) and their country annexed. (Marquard 1962, p11)
Dingaan was killed and this day was known as “the Convenient Day” and became
a national day for the Afrikaners, with a great commemorative festival.
This event affected the Afrikaners deeply, and ideas like the possession of land,
superiority, race, independence, and unity took their roles effectively in
structuring their pattern, which meant their path toward nationalism and building
the nation.
After the defeat and collapse of the Zulu, the Boers continued facing the raids of
the Zulu and the Bantu wherever they went. In 1843, Britain occupied the Natal,
but the Boers refused to be under the British sovereignty, so they decided to
relocate to Vaal River through the Darkensberg Mountains, and established two
republics--Orange Free State and Transvaal--and proclaimed the territory as their
nation in 1848.
As a result of the financial burdens of the colony, Britain decided to cooperate

with the Boers, helping them face the assault of the African tribes, and in 1852 it
confessed the independence of their republic, the Orange Free State. The Boers
built an organized administrative structure inside and adopted a constitution to
protect the individual’s rights and liberty.
Diamonds and Gold:
In 1860s diamonds were discovered in Kimberly, and in 1886 gold was

discovered in Transvaal. Many of the British and Europeans came to invest their
wealth. A young man came at that time called Cecil Rhodes, who played an
efficient role economically and politically. His ambition was that Britain should
control all the African continent. In 1889 Rhodes established the South African
British Company and was responsible in encouraging immigration to S.A and also
for trade development.
Gradually people like Cecil Rhodes, Barney Barnato, and the Beits got control
of the mines by buying out a small operators, and established the enormous
fortunes that were subsequently used to develop the gold-mines of the
Transvaal and to expand the British Empire farther north. (Marquard, 1962,
p18)
They possessed the mines and used the Africans as forced labor. The new
industries attracted merchants, traders, discoverers to invest their wealth, and it
restructured South Africa, involving it in world capitalism.
For the first fifteen years of diamond production all the cards seemed to be in
the hands of African workers and their chiefs. Wages were high, the pass
system was ineffective, workers were more suited to pastoral or agriculture
pursuits and they were subject to recall at a moment’s notice if their chiefs
required their military service. In this period of South African history there
were numerous colonial wars, which were bad for mining in the short term. In
such a situation the strength of African workers lay in their ability to withdraw
their labor at will. The mine-owners’ problem was simple: their workers were
not dependent on mining for a livelihood. (Anzovin 1987, p28)
There was a desire for the control of the labor force and reduction of their power.
As Fanon says, “The native is a being hemmed in.”( Fanon 1963,p41) This desire
was accompanied by many changes conducive to the Europeans’ interests,
including the existence and the development of large companies, the depression
(1882-1885), and the conquest of African chiefdoms. These factors stimulated the
creation of compound workers, an arrangement in which the workers spent their
time in the mines as diggers, and after finishing they spent the remaining time at a
place in which twenty stayed in one room and the place was encircled by fences.
Also the workers were searched thoroughly to be sure that they didn’t steal.
The compound system denied Africans the freedom to respond to market forces
and to sell their labor for the highest wage. It enabled the mine owners to turn
the initial disadvantage of migrant labor into the great political and economic
advantages of cheap and controlled labor, a system so advantageous to mining
capitalists that it continues to operate throughout the mineral industries in South
Africa. (Anzovin 1987, p29)
The rulers justified this on the grounds that it protected the workers from robbery.
Later it became the main system for controlling the labor force and labor costs.
“Once Africans were isolated from the towns and camps in closed compounds,
labor discipline was easier to enforce.” (Anzovin 1987, p31) The compound
system put the cards in the whites’ hand and controlled and exploited the labor as
they wished
Absenteeism declined, piece-work was introduced and liquor and women

were forbidden. Mineworkers worked full twelve-hour shifts, although they
did not necessarily work a full week. Isolation also made it easier to force
down wages, as strikes could be put down by compound guards as faction
fights. And it is remarkable how the wages of workers were forced down to
the maintenance costs of convict workers by the middle 1890s. (Anzovin
1987, p31)
After the discovery of diamonds and gold, Britain decided to annex the entire
region under its sovereignty. This triggered the Anglo-Boer War, which ended in
the defeat of the Boers in 1902. There was a colonial competition between the
Boers and the British, but in the end they decided to cooperate against the
colonized, as they had the same goals and needed mutual security against the
numerical power of the blacks. Fanon argues that “The settler-native relationship
is a mass relationship. The settler pits brute force against the weight of numbers.”
(Fanon1963, p43)
The Boers resisted the British and used the guerrilla campaign against them. The
British killed many of them and their state was destroyed completely. They
suffered a lot from that war; on the other hand, it required great effort from Britain
to defeat them. That war created leaders from the Boer Community who later
affected the history of S.A, especially General Botha, General Smuts and General
De Wet. The war ended in the Vereeniging Treaty on May 31, 1902. The British
promised to reconstruct the economy and to give the Boers rights and the
recognition of their language within the state.
Union of South Africa:
“The colonial regime owes its legitimacy to force and at no time tries to hide
this aspect of things.” (Fanon1967, p66)
In 1910 the Union of South Africa was established, which consisted of the unity
of the Cape, Transvaal, Orange and Natal. However, 1910 is considered a crucial
period that facilitated the control of the Boers later. The unity of the four regions
led to the foundation of a system that fit the benefits of all the states. Britain
established a parliament and codified customary law in which rights were limited
to the whites. Because of the demographic control of the blacks, Britain aimed to
create a “white government,” so as to exploit the blacks and to prevent them from
calling for the sovereignty of the land, so it established a racist, discriminatory
and unjust polity. In its new constitution it did not mention the original
inhabitants, and the racial discrimination began to be institutionalized and to
convert S.A into a white state.
In 1913 the government prohibited non-whites from possessing the land, issuing
Native Land Act, which gives the blacks 7% of the land, and in 1924 the ratio
increased to 13%. Many lands in which the African tribes were living were
exported. They fought against that law, especially the Zulu tribe, but they failed
because of white military supremacy. The result was that many African people
were killed and arbitrary violence spread everywhere.
At that period colonialism was taking the formal trend in building the nation and
imposing the laws that structured the way the nation functioned. This was a
definite phase of colonialism, resulting from a long period of conflict and chaos
preceding the emergence of a clear structure. The state strove for industrialization,
and blacks were used as laborers in the mines, or as cultivators in lands or as
servants to the whites. Fanon argues that the economic facts in the colony, the
inequality in the standard of living, could not hide the human facts and the true
dividing criterion, namely one’s race. (Fanon 1963, p32)
Between the two world wars industrialization took place at a rapid rate, too
rapid for S.A to be able to adapt her social economy with comfort. The
balance of European population shifted from country to town; the number of
manufacturing establishments increased from 2000 to 9000 and their output
quadrupled; exports and imports doubled; the railway network increased by
25%, even though the main lines from ports to the mines had all been laid
before Union; and banking, agriculture production, revenue and expenditure,
the public service establishment, all kept pace with this industrial expansion.
Housing and town-planning lagged far behind. (Marquard 1962, p24 -25)
In 1912, Hertzog established the National party or NP. The NP aimed to insure the
rights of the Boers in the Union, to be separated from Britain and to ensure the
racist polices against the non-whites. In 1924 General Hertzog took over power
and then in 1948 Dr. Malan, an extremist. In 1958 Dr. Verword, a doctor of
psychology, adopted and called for the idea of separation, which later became
known as Apartheid.
In 1948, the NP came to power and the Apartheid system was formally
introduced, but it was not until 1958, that the state began to apply it rigorously. In
1960 S.A became independent from Britain and S.A withdraw from the
Commonwealth and declared S.A as “Republic of South Africa.” Friendship with
Britain was converted to the U.S.A, as it became a global power.
The increase of the dictatorship of the Afrikaners was accompanied by an increase

in their isolation internally and externally. Their dictatorship was due to imposing
the concepts which were regarded as outmoded elsewhere, promoting and
imposed a master-slave relationship. They wanted to overcome the existence and

the numerical power of the blacks. In 1960s, most of the colonized nations
obtaineded their independence, especially in Africa. The Afrikaners thus faced an
“existence crisis.” The international community criticized the policies of S.A, and
the U.N called all the nations to end their diplomatic, economic and commercial
relationship with S.A., as the system was not legitimate (UN resolution 418).
South Africa did not care about the international criticism and continued in
applying its policies.
The Native:
As a result of the racist policy against the non-whites, in 1912 John Doled
established the African National Party (ANC). It aimed at the beginning to alter
the conditions of the blacks and did not aim to destroy the system. The ANC was
affected by the philosophy of Gandhi, Satyagraha or non-violence resistance
since the 1890s. The ANC succeed in mobilizing all the available efforts in the
struggle process. There were many liberation movements within S.A, but the
ANC emerged as the strongest force, both internally and externally.
In 1984 a mass revolution occurred as a result of the oppression, and the bad
conditions, in addition to the changes among the world that affected South Africa.
Until in 1985 the apartheid system started to diminish and in 1989, Fredrik De
Klerk was elected as a prime minister for the Republic. The apartheid laws and
rules were eliminated and all the political prisoners were released.
In 1994, free elections took place and the ANC took over power. The flag of the
old system was replaced by a new flag, declaring a new era in the history of S.A.
After the 1994, many difficulties and challenges faced the new nation; one of
these difficulties is the desire of the blacks for revenge. In addition,
unemployment, poverty, crime, and violence increased, as will be explained in the
coming chapter.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
South Africa
South Africa
Sotho
Mozambique Hottentots &
1590-1620
Bushmen (Khoisan Language)
They were at weak and spur
Nguni phase
Bantu-speaking
Nguni
Zulu Bondu Tembo Xhosa
Metabel East West

(Ndebele
Sotho
1820-
Tswana Fundo Lafedo Bapedi South Sotho

ًWestern Sotho (Northo Sotho)
Chapter 9
Apartheid System
“ The white man makes all the laws, he drags us before his courts and accuses
us, and he sits in judgment over us.” (Nelson Mandela) 11
Abstract:
South Africa was exposed to double colonialism: settlement colonialism within

capital colonialism, and the relationship was highly intense, because the colonizer
tended to completely destroy the other economically, socially, politically and
culturally and not just to penetrate it and to control the state.
The Boers had no original culture, they ended any relation between themselves
and Holland. They built a culture based on religion and historical events. So there
was a cultural conflict: the blacks’ culture and an artificial culture. The
Afrikaners tried to structure this culture in the concepts of the nation of South
Africa so as to give an impression and features to South Africa that reflected their
cultural sovereignty over the state.
The Afrikaners put the blacks in ghettoes. These “homelands” aimed at activating
a backward and stagnating culture so that all the suppression of the apartheid
system would be released internally. The Afrikaners tried to return the colonized
to the first phase that Fanon talked about as he described the phases of violence.
Also they aimed to dismember that body into small pieces so it would not pose a
threat
Socially these homelands contained various tribes and not ethnic groups as some
authors believed. Every homeland concentrated itself within a narrow vicious
circle so that it became like a separate nation, so it ended in creating nine different
groups. That they converted the tribes into ethnic groups is actually a myth.
11
- Neville (1974), p4
The ideology that the structure of South Africa built upon is a master-slave
relationship. This ideology started since the settlement of the Boers, and it
developed and took various forms at different stages until it reached the apartheid
phase. Apartheid imposed segregation between the Afrikaners and the blacks,
which allowed the Afrikaners to control the state completely as if the blacks did
not exist. It dispersed the blacks in ghettos like a prison, and exploited the labor
force in a way that served the whites’ benefit and boosted their economy while not
affecting their own state. Dualism was structured severely: first it destroyed the
colonized body as it divided them into small separated pieces and directed them
toward “ethnicity.” Second it led these small bodies to be managed badly through
the chiefs that were selected by the government and also the minority of the black
bourgeoisie which, had control in conformity with the colonizer. Third, it directed
all these small bodies to its economy to exploit them. Exploiting them meant the
development, the prosperity and the increase of the white economic power,
correspondingly weakening the blacks. The whites lived as if the blacks did not
exist, or rather as if they were directed toward white interests. On the other hand,
the blacks lived as if the whites did not exist, trapped in their false social
consciousness, as they believed in their “states” - the homelands.
The apartheid system was a weak one. Its aim was to restructure the body of the
blacks through changing and directing the internal relationship between the blacks
and to return them to a reverse phase so the Afrikaner continued to be in their to
protect this master-slave relationship. Apartheid was efficient in achieving its aim,
because it was structured and imposed legally through the laws of the nation and
was applied efficiently. The Afrikaners knew that this system wouldn’t succeed or
function permanently. Apartheid was an historical phase in the master-slave
relationship that aimed to strengthen the position of the master and weaken the
slave so as to sustain this relationship. So it functioned on both sides: it turned
back time or slowed the development of the slave, winning more time through
increasing the dual gap. The Afrikaners tried to impose their sovereignty based on
the supposed superiority of their own culture. They built the idea of racism
according to the color of the skin but it is not a matter of color as much as a matter
of existence. The apartheid system was and became symbolic of racism,
inequality, exploitation and injustice. The white exerted all these kinds of
inhumanity to strengthen their existence and comfort.
In this paper I will discuss the apartheid phase, which I think gives an idea about
the white policy toward the blacks and a clear insight of how the colony is dual.
Apartheid
When the British came to South Africa in the 19th century, their policy aimed to
give rights to the blacks, and it was one of the reasons of the Great Trek as the
Boers considered it an “unbearable equality,” and after hundreds of years the
Boers possessed the state and imposed the apartheid system, a truly unbearable
inequality structured through the comfort of one at the expense of the suffering
and the humiliation of the other; the more the latter obtains satisfaction and
prosperity the more the other deteriorated. If this shows something, it shows how
the existence of these two “species” of people contradicts each other. Fanon
argues that “Decolonization is the meeting of two forces, opposed to each other by
their very nature, which in fact owe their originality to that sort of
substantification.” (Fanon 1963, p30)
The Apartheid system reflected the belief of the Afrikaners’ superiority and
racism which was reflected in all aspects of life and which reflected from a
general perspective how the society became as a whole dual and divided. Here I
will discuss the main ideas, first the definitions that give an idea of the bases of
this relationship, and then rules and policies that were imposed to create that
pattern.
Race was essential to structure that pattern, and it may be defined as the ideas and
concepts that a specific group believes about itself and about the other. These
ideas and concepts allow the group to justify any behavior toward the other, and
as long as it posses the sovereignty of the state it will create a system that
organizes this relationship, a superior-to-inferior relationship, which appears at all

levels: personal, group, institutions, economics. This relationship is legalized, is
not a hierarchal system but a dual system. As time passed and as this relationship
was strengthened, it took an historical trend and philosophical existence, with the
dominant group being very conscious and alert to protect and sustain this
relationship.12
Also as Staples defines it,
“Race is a political identity because it defines the way in which an

individual is to be treated by the political state and conditions of one’s
oppression. It is cultural in the sense that white cultural values always
gain ascendancy over black culture values; thus what is “good” or “bad,”
“criminal” or “legitimate” behavior is always defined in terms favorable
to the ruling class.” (Staples1975, p14)
Apartheid means separation of two races in all aspects of life, so as each can exert
self-government and self-development according to his culture within the specific
regions specified for each; each group will exercise its own civilization and the
rights of citizenship. Outside the “homeland,” in the blacks’ case, they will be
migrants without any rights of citizenship. However this system was applied by
force und with extreme inequality, justified in terms of culture and development.
It divided the blacks into different “sub-species” inside one kind of “species.”
Separation took place in all aspects of life: sport, government buildings, hospitals,
public places, markets, education and others. Previously the blacks and whites
each had a path within the same place, but under the apartheid regime it became
more intensive and comprehensive and each had its own places.
Apartheid aimed to change all the structures of the state. In 1948, after the
withdrawal of the British from South Africa, and the victory of the NP, their
power over the state increased. The existence of the blacks threatened their
12
See Bonilla--Silva, (1997)
existence as the relation between the native and the Afrikaner surfaced and
became clearer. Apartheid was structured first in the demography of the nation
and second in the laws and rules that organized and gave rights for each group.
In South Africa they divided the blacks within ten districts on the basis of
language. However, the tribes differed in the dialect or the use of the words as the
result of their daily living with other groups from Asia or the British or the Boers.
Second, the division was not pure; for example a person from the Zulu tribe might
be placed within the Xhosa. As a result there was a minority and majority within
each homeland. Third, the boundaries between the homelands were not clear,
which resulted in a conflict between the tribes. Fourth, these homelands were
allocated in the areas that are not important--not strategic locations--not good for
agriculture and containing no natural resources. Fifth, population relative to the
area was very small.
Of course the change in the rules and the policies of the state was reflected in the
behavior of the people as a whole, so as to go with this new system. Coping with
the new system led to the change in the internal relations among the black
community who aimed to live with this new de facto reality. It changed their
entire life, it interfered in their detailed daily life. For example, if a person wanted
to visit a friend from another area, he must go into legal procedures related to the
pass law, which specified the allowable period. Also coping with this system
created psychological stress in the blacks, which was reflected in his behavior
toward his family, community and the state and even toward himself. As long as
the policies were in the very details of the person’s life, the more it controlled him
completely and even directed him.
Here I will discuss the general things that played a crucial role in creating that
pattern and in structuring the mentality of the colonized, not only in the apartheid
phase but also through all the history of South Africa. These things are considered
the pillars and the cores of Apartheid:
1. Laws:
Laws are very important because they structure the state and the apartheid system,
and apartheid is a system that governs by laws. Laws governing South Africa
were created by the whites, and the apartheid system was not founded in a
vacuum. There were people who analyzed and assimilated the colonized and who
tried to control and direct the mentality of the colonized. Fanon argued that the
enemy analyzed the colonized and recognized the vacuum that existed within the
society, and knew which group could be attracted to the colonizer
In South Africa the laws were derived from the Roman-Dutch laws and some
English laws and are in conformity with the colonizer philosophy. These laws
affected the blacks badly. First: they structured life so as to place it entirely
within the colonizer’s sphere and control, especially in that these rules determined
the social relations which went inversely with their own culture. Second, the law
made them followers of the whites. Third, the law was the basis for racial
separatism and contempt. Laws were discriminatory, racist, and unjust, so as to
ensure race domination. The person’s identity and position in the state were
determined through the color of his skin, and in every aspect of life, his race or
color was mentioned and division was made according to that.
The laws were applied rigidly, and the penalties for any infraction were severe,
exceeding the weight of the crime, as the colonizer defined “crime”. This had a
very deep effect on the colonized, who was forced to retain an image of the whites
as superior.
The main laws that characterized South Africa were:
Race: The Population Registration Act (1950) categorized the individual as black
or white or colored, the category being cited in his identity card. It was
mentioned in everything in his life, even in his driving license. The determination
of race was based on appearance, general acceptance, and reputation. At one time
the courts assessed the person and classified him, but later they narrowed the law
and depended mainly on descent.
Usually the laws in South Africa developed and became more racist by steps, via
adjustment and amendment over many years. People were divided as white, black
(Bantu), or colored, and there was another classification for the blacks and colored
as to which “ethnicity” one belonged. The colored might be Indian, Asian,
Chinese, or other. Blacks were divided according to tribes, which were considered
ethnic groups.
The separation of the races was structured in the Mixed Marriage Act (1949),
which forbade marriage or sexual intercourse between whites and non-whites.
This aimed to separate the races completely.
Separation was also structured in the Group Areas Act which specified that each
racial group must live in a specific region. This was accompanied by the “petty
Apartheid” laws that separated everything in all the aspects of live, even in
transportation and in the factories, where there were separate entrance for each
group. Any mixing was forbidden. These were structured in various laws such as
the Separate Amenities Act, State-aided Institutions Act, Factories and Machinery
Act (1960) and others. Labor law strictly limited workers’ rights.
Strikes were forbidden. African unions had no formal status, and the state didn’t
acknowledge their existence.
Education law determined the ideology and content of the natives’ education,
while minimizing opportunities for that education. Physical facilities were far
worse in the blacks’ schools, and while education for whites was free and
compulsory, for blacks it was voluntary and costly. White and black education
were administered and managed separately.
The Bantu Education Act (1953) …was designed to: (a) simplify the
administrative control over African schools; (b) bring control of African
education into line with the policy from Africans adopted by the Ministry of
Bantu Affairs; (c) provide the type of education which the ministry had
decided was best suited to Africans as unskilled labor for white areas, and
limited in access to more skilled occupations outside their “homelands”; (d)
make Africans finance their own education.” (Unesco, p62)
Whites determined the whole structure of education for the blacks: the program,
the budget, and the rules of education.
Blacks had no political rights or franchise rights. They had rights inside their
homelands. All the social and political rights were eliminated under the Bantu
Homeland Citizenship Act (1970).
In addition, the laws aimed to destroy the family unit in the black community,
through the labor system and the homelands. For example according to The Urban
Area Act, the black woman was forbidden to stay or to live with her husband
more than 72 hours in an urban area. It was common for laws in various areas to
be justified on security grounds. These rules included the pass laws, detention,
penalties, and separation.
So the laws started by classification, and then proceeded to change the

demography of the state, then to redistribute people, then to restrict movement,
then security laws, the elimination of the political and social rights, complete
separation, the separation of the family members, and destruction of the blacks
economically. All of this existed before, but in the apartheid period it became very
obvious, clear, and more severe.
2. Homelands and the Labor System:
It is customary in South African political circles to regard the non-whites

as objects of administration rather than a political factor. (Kuper 1954, p28)
For it is the settler who has brought the native into existence and who
perpetuates his existence. The settler owes the fact of his existence, that is
to say his property, to the colonial system. (Fanon 1963, p30)
The homelands and the labor system were destructive policies, because they
directed the blacks toward their desire. As Fanon says, “Violence has ceaselessly
drummed the rhythms for the destruction of native social forms.” (Fanon1963,
p33). The desire overcame the reality and created imaginary reality. Desire put
them in their false consciousness, a desire of a state like the white. The possession
of the land helped in directing them to think that the state is the land. However,
these homelands with the boundaries created conflict between them, because each
wanted to enlarge its state. And creating these states would attract all the blacks,
each belonging to an artificial state. (See p 35)
They thought of themselves socially and not in terms of colonialism, and they
dealt with the situation as if there were no colonialism. The homelands were
justified and partitioned according to historical events, that separation depended
on the historical trend, that each according to the beginning history of South
Africa in which these tribes were living in, dividing the tribes into ethnic groups
and recognizing the languages. It left these tribes to manage and administer these
homelands internally. Of course this was structured through regions, tribes and
territories. The actual and true picture of apartheid can be seen from its planning.
As Fanon says, “The colonial world’s ordering and its geographical layout will
allow us to mark out the lines on which a decolonized society will be
reorganized.” (Fanon 1963, p31)
The homelands form a U-shape around the boundaries, and each homeland might
consist of more than one region13. These homelands were scattered and differed in
the area and the population that lived in these areas. The total area of the
homelands was about 13% of South Africa--for more than 75% of the population.
Some called the black areas, Bantustans, homelands, or reserves, and some called
13
See Annex
them nations. These homelands were divided into nine, according to tribe: Tswana
(Bopthuthatswana), Vhacenda (Venda), Xhosa (two homelands, Ciskei and
Transkei), Zulu (Kwazulu), Swazi (Kangwane), Southern Ndebele (Kwandebele),
North Sotho (Lebowa), South Sotho (Qwa Qwa) and the Machangana–Songa
(Gazankulu). The white area was 530 times greater than the area allocated to 1000
southern Sotho, and 25 times more than that for 1000 Zulu. (Cornevin 1980, p27)
The homelands aimed to exploit the people who could produce and those who
cannot remain the homelands, and also the unemployed who are not in need for
them
The obsession to remove black spots from the so-called white areas led to
large-scale, compulsory uprooting of blacks from their homes and land.
Thus, for instance, the South African authorities removed 1.9 million blacks
between 1960 and 1970. Since this callous bulldozing of homes and forced
resettlement began, at least 6 million blacks were pushed to native reserves
without jobs, schools, hospitals, a water supply, and roads. Another 7.7
million more were slated for such removal. The primary victims of this
policy are the aged, the infirm, widows, and children to whom official
documents refer as “unproductive,” “idle,” “superfluous” and “undesirable.
(Bulhan 1985, p169)
The blacks were citizens of their homelands rather than citizen of South Africa.
They put the individual in very narrow space and made the masses unable to take
collective action. The system also stimulated internal conflicts, as the boundaries
were not clear, each tribe not being allocated its own dedicated region. However,
there was no economy in the homelands, which forced the laborers to live at
crossroads and in towns near the urban areas so as to find work. “One most
noticeable feature of the black population is that half does not live in its own
state.” (Christopher1982, p129). They lived in lamentable conditions, in which
poverty and diseases were rife. What Fanon argues wrote about the peasantry
applied to South African labor:
The landless peasants who make the Lumpen proletariat, leave the country
districts, where vital statistics are just so many insoluble problems, rush
towards the towns, crowd into tin-shack settlements, and try to make their
way into the ports and cities founded by colonial domination. (Fanon1963 ,
p90)
The ranks specified for the blacks were low forms of employment. The system of
apartheid aimed to enlarge the Lumpen proletariat that Fanon talked about, who
were extended from the homelands and lived in towns or the crossroads in very
humiliating conditions, in which life was not secure and bad. “Overcrowding has
reached inhuman levels. One survey revealed an average of 2.7 persons per room,
6.5 per bed, and 12 per non-flush toilet.” (Grundy 1991, p3). The blacks quarreled
on the crossroads. “The police encouraged and even secretly armed the more
conservative faction. The result, however, was very bloody. In 1985 and 1986
Crossroads became a battlefield. It was practically burnt to the ground, and 70,000
people were made homeless. Approximately a hundred were killed. The state
determined to relocate large numbers of squatters, succeeded in turning black
against black. (Ibid., p3). As Fanon argues, “The native’s muscular tension finds
outlet regularly in bloodthirsty explosions, in tribal warfare, in feuds between
sects and in quarrels between individuals.” (Fanon 1963, p43)
Of course the women and their children were not allowed to stay in the crossroads
with their husbands, rather in the homelands unless there was permission from the
local chiefs and the government. 14 This system separated the family, in which the
14
For example: Nozukile lives in the Traskei, an ostensibly “independent homeland.” She has
been married twenty years. For eighteen of those years her husband, Ntoyi, has been working and
living in Cape town, 650 miles away. He visits his home just two weeks a year. He has had five
years of schooling; she has never been to school. He does contract (with thirteen different jobs in
those twenty years), and his salary, now 525 rand (R) per month (the equivalent of about $200)
enables him to send 50R a month to his wife. This is her only source of income, except for what
she can earn from keeping two dozen chickens and three cattle, and from tending the garden of her
husband’s elder brother. As a brother is away working too, Nozukile stays with his wife because
Ntoyi has no farm plot of his own. Off and on Nozukile has been to Cape Town, staying first in
Nyanga, a black township, and then in a wood and plastic shelter at Crossroads, a squatter
settlement on the Cape Flats. Some of her stays have been extended two or three years at a time.
She misses her husband. She especially suffered while raising their five children (two others died
in infancy in part because the healthcare facilities were forty miles away). The two eldest boys
need the guidance and encouragement of their fathers in these troubled times. One has been
mothers and their children lived in abject poverty while the fathers were
humiliated at their work and living at the crossroads. The children were raised
away from their fathers and also living under stress as the mothers attempted to
manage their lives in these deteriorated conditions.
The system of the homelands and the labor system confused the black community
with chaotic conditions. Everyone was affected, from the child to the old.
However, the system of the homelands created and ensured the roles of various
groups as the government gave “authorities” and merits to govern the homelands.
The homelands created semi-classes within each homeland as they controlled the
administration of the homeland.
Partly because of the burgeoning politics of patronage, capital transfers

from the central state and upper classes of the local state, and the political
and administrative vacuum within the displaced urban settlements
themselves, various middle groups have arisen with particular interests in
maintaining aspects of the system; bureaucrats and securocrats, petty
commodity producers, traders, small farming interests, rentiers and rent
collectors, tsotsis (young gangsters, protection racketeers, local bosses, and
chiefs, and their personal police forces). (Pickles and Woods 1992, p632).
So each homeland included a minority of bourgeoisie and chiefs and others who
managed the homeland in a way consonant with the colonizer’s policies. Here the
homeland was like small state that ensured Neo-colonialism, but this neo-
colonialism was internal and aimed not to posses the economic recourses, because
the whites already possess the economy, but rather to exploit the labor force.
arrested several times for his political activities at school. Nozukile would have stayed longer in
Cape Town except she knew that she would never be able to secure their claim to land in the
Transkei if she was away from the homeland. Equally important, she was forced on one occasion
to abandon her shack at Crossroads when the government bulldozers smashed it. She has been
there in violation of diverse laws designed to limit the influx of blacks into “white” urban areas.
After they rebuilt their shack, it was burnt down by the Witdoeke, black vigilantes who enjoyed
police protection. (Quoted in “We Will Not Move”: The struggle for Crossroads, revised edition.
London: International University Exchange Fund, 1987, p43} (Grundy 1991, p1-2)
The homelands became administrative zones to supply the whites with workers
and also to manage the surplus from which the whites did not benefit. The main
core of apartheid was the labor system, leading to a new style of life, creating new
values and trends. The workers were exposed to industrialization accompanied by
social-life destruction accompanied by poverty accompanied by stressful
circumstances. The colonizers dealt with the human beings in the same way they
possessed the land and resources, as a machine that gave cheap labor, and they
simply used it according to their need. There was no certainty for the black, whose
fate was in the hand of the whites. The blacks lived and thought only for the
moment and for his survival, which was determined by the whites.
So the homeland is an integral system to the whole economy, serving the benefits
of the whites. This system created a priority within the black community and that
priority meant the integration with this system, an uneven, divided and blurred
society. The blacks believed and recognized these states and their behavior was
reflected in that belief as a transformation phase toward the nation.
The homeland produced a complex pattern of settlement and involved

massive forced relocations of people from both urban and rural areas. The
ensuing patterns of proclaimed ethnicities, attained through ideological
manipulation and forced relocation of people, have in turn been used to
justify the new political entities. (Ibid., p633)
However, the state controlled the homelands through small groups inside them
and through privileges as Pickles and woods describes the structural effects,
“One important response by the central state was a policy of privileges

creation. Whereas previously black people had been excluded from access
to the material and political advantages to citizens of the central state, the
intention of the new policies was to make concessions to certain blacks and
to provide opportunities for their incorporation into the economic and
political life of South Africa. The intent was to create a group of “insiders”
who would be given certain benefits, such as recognition of trade unions,
the right to strike, permanent urban status, interurban mobility and a
franchise restricted to the election of local councilors. This identification of

“insiders” was predicated on the delineation of “outsiders”; those who
would be excluded from such benefits and who would be more tightly
regulated as homeland citizens. Their presence in the rest of South Africa
could only be as temporary medium-term migrant labor or as daily or
weekly commuters. The holding function of the homelands took on new
significance, necessitating an increase in the internal viability of each
homeland, if only to be able to administer and police the “inmates.” In this
function, a tortuous strategy of repression, limited cooptation, and ethnic
ideological manipulation became central to the maintenance of the mini-
state, mirroring the strategies of the central state during the same period.”
(Ibid., 634)
Blacks were exploited severely for very small wages inappropriate for their
exertions. The life of the worker had no meaning or value. “In the three decades
from 1936 to 1966, no less than nineteen thousand miners, more than 9/10 were
blacks killed in the gold-mines, an average of three per shift.”15 (Bulhan 1985,
p168)
They were alienated according to Marx’s concept of alienation: first, the work
didn’t make them important, but rather humiliated them. Also there was not a
positive relation between the worker and his work, but rather a relation of
contempt and hatred. The work was not for his satisfaction but rather for the
satisfaction of the other (white), and according to Marx “it is the loss of his
self.”16
The circumstances under which they work only deepen their alienation. At
the end of each day’s hard labor, they go “ home” to hostels fenced with
barbed wire. These barren hostels are invariably crowded and control is
absolute. They have few amenities, no visitors’ rooms, no recreation
facilities, and no privacy. Visitors, particularly of the opposite sex, are not
15
Quoted in Harsch, E. South Africa: White Rule, Black Revolt, (New York: Mond Press, 1980)
16
See Horowitz (1966), p233-234
permitted. The laborers are also grouped by tribe to prevent the

development of class or national consciousness. (Bulhan 1985, p168)
The existence of the blacks in the urban was specified for the time they worked,
and residence was not allowed. This system provided the main things just for
living; income was low and satisfied only the barest requirements.
All the things mentioned show how apartheid created a dual society
3. Security, Police and Pass Laws:
Police:
Fanon makes a comparison between the role of the police in the European country
and in the colonized country. In the European country its role is to secure and
protect people, whereas in the colony it is a source of oppression and violence.
The police express the contradictions in the colony, as Fanon argues that “As far
as their internal situation is concerned, the colonialist countries find themselves
faced with contradictions in the form of working-class demands which necessitate
the use of their police forces.” (Fanon 1963, p58). Furthermore, “He [the police]
is the bringer of violence into the home and into the mind off the natives.” ( Ibid.,
p31)
The police aimed to suppress the colonized and to watch him everywhere to catch
him. As Fanon argues, the gun and the stick are important to control the
colonized. For any action the police is ready and alert. It is a source of violence
and fear. On the other hand, to the colonized the police is a suppressive and
oppressive tool that aims to make the colonized always alert and stressed as they
are followed everywhere, even in their dreams. The police deal with the colonized
as something bad and evil that should be suppressed and do not deal with them as
human beings. For example, many passive and peaceful demonstrations were
suppressed by the police, resulting in injuries and deaths, as in the Sharpsville
event, the Windhoek in the Cape as a result of the compulsory removal of the
blacks to new Africa townships.
The colonizers also attempted to erode native strength by recruiting the natives
into police work. This is self-destructive, as the colonized work to maintain the
security of the whites, while blacks are suppressed by other blacks. “While half
South Africa’s police is non-white, members are generally assigned to their own
racial areas and all are under the firm control of whites.” (Adelman1982, p49) So
one way of penetrating the blacks is to attract a portion of them into the police
field, putting them on the side of the colonizer, a source of blurring and confusion
Also the role of the police is to make the colonized always alert and feeling that
he is being followed even in his dreams.
Pass law
The first thing which the native learns is to stay in his place, and not to go
beyond certain limits. This is why the dreams of the native are always of
muscular prowess; his dreams are of action and of aggression. I am
dreaming, I am jumping, swimming, running, climbing; I dream that I burst
out laughing that I span a river on one stride. During the period of
colonization, the native never stops achieving his freedom from nine in the
evening until six in the morning. (Fanon1963, p41)
The Pass Law existed in South Africa was and imposed with the coming of the
Boers. As they enslaved some of the tribes the forbade them from entering other
land than the master land, so the slaves would not escape.
The pass law required non-whites 16 years and above to hold a reference book
with information the individual’s name, race, homeland, status, picture, address,
work record, and others. Also it contained permission from the government to stay
in a specific region or township outside the homeland, without which his
existence in a specific region was illegal. Being caught without the reference book
meant arrest. “The pass laws deny blacks who actually work in ‘white’ areas the
right to permanent residence in those areas…During the period 1974/1975 nearly
1000 trials were held every day of blacks who had been prosecuted under the pass
laws.” (Brown 1981, p28)
The pass law’s inhumanity extended to the fact that it affected the individual
psychologically, as he felt that it was forbidden to enter any place, and he is was
restricted to his homeland or place of work, or for doing specific things in a
specific region within a specific time. So he was encircled from everywhere. This
caused a deep violent feeling which generally could only be released internally
within the specific region to which the individual was confined. It created a
vacuum within the individual, resulting in his isolation due to the inability to cope
with the situation. He felt himself powerless and exhausted. This system aimed to
make the blacks obedient and submissive. Fanon in his book BSWM tried to
emancipate the black from his submissiveness to the other.
These pass laws served to number the blacks, keep them within specified areas,
encircle them, monitor them at all times, and punish any deviation.
Frequent raids are undertaken to catch pass offenders. These raids, which
always involve an element of surprise and terror, are conducted on the
streets, at the places of work, and even at homes when all are fast asleep.
The shock of being suddenly awakened late at night by the clamor of boots,
the blinding flood of flashlights beamed at one’s half-dazed eyes, the sight
of terrified parents scurrying to cover their naked bodies and find their pass
book, the force and insults with which a relative is snatched away--these are
some of the common traumas that initiate a black child into the obscenities
of apartheid. (Bulhan 1985, p171)
The pass laws aimed to restrict the movements of the blacks, who were not
considered citizens nor allowed to stay in the urban areas where they worked. The
Africans working in the urban areas lived in designated townships outside the
actual towns, and even then were subjected to specified condition. So the pass
laws aimed to secure the whites from the blacks, and on the other hand to suppress
the blacks.
Security
Because of the crises of the Afrikaners’ existence in South Africa, they aimed to
protect themselves and their existence. The crisis was structured in the concepts
that they built into their nation in South Africa, and these concepts were
accumulated and developed through a long period of time until they reached a
severe contradiction; thus the whites imposed the apartheid system.
The rules regarding security were wide and subtle, with no clear definition to the
meanings involved within the rule. For example, there was no clear definition of
“sabotage.” Also, sentences for the same crime could vary, from one year to
death. Third, the whites related irrelevant things to these rules. For example,
anyone who demanded improved work conditions was considered a communist.
Even the rules concerning security interfered in the feelings of the blacks. This
shows that fear controlled and directed the whites in imposing the rules. For
example, “The rate of execution in South Africa has at times accounted for 50%
of all legal executions in the world.” (Bulhan 1985, p172)
A plethora of laws governed security: for example in 1976 the government

imposed the Internal Security Act, which allowed detention for up to a year
without trial or recourse to a lawyer. Also in 1977 it imposed the Criminal
Procedures Act, which permitted trial in total secrecy including charges, trial,
conviction, and sentencing.
The Suppression of Communism Act was also notably broad, allowing the ban of
persons and organizations; any organization that aimed to develop the workers’
situation was forbidden. Anyone found guilty under the Act could be imprisoned
for three years. Communism was considered a crime according to Communist Act
No. 44. Communism related to the philosophy of Marx. Anyone advocating
transformation of the social structure, anything which aimed to improve the lot of
the proletariat, and strikes were forbidden; in other words, any threat to white
domination.
Detention and prison:
Most of the prisoners were sentenced to short terms because of the pass laws or
failure to pay fines. “The average daily prison population was 91,108 prisoners in
1971. In 1968-69 it reached to 90,555.” (UNESCO,p78) “The daily prison
population approached one-half million in 1980.” (Bulhan 1985, p172)
The prison for the blacks was called Robin Island, and all the walls were painted
yellow. Prisoners were exposed to various types of humiliation: filthy and
crowded conditions, torture and other maltreatment, and complete deprivation of
knowledge of the outside world. The prison was considered an effective
institution for directing the colonized. It aimed to make every black pass through
it even for a short period of time. The policies used for the prisoners were
psychological devices which aimed to crystallize the psychology of the black man
and make him powerless.
4. Psychological: Crime, violence and deviant behavior:
The system that the colonizer created in South Africa aimed to negate completely
the “other.” This stimulated a violent and aggressive feeling within the colonized,
especially that he sees the other extreme. The rapidity of change within the native
community created alienated and deviant behavior. This change was associated
with migration, unemployment, demographic change, and political instability. The
apartheid system increased poverty, poor housing, disorientation of family life,
rapid population growth, population pressure in the townships, weakening of the
traditional society, the raising the children far away from the father, and also the
distressed conditions of the fathers. “In 1975, about 75% of African families live
below the poverty datum line--that is, the bare subsistence poverty level.
Meanwhile, white families enjoy a standard of life comparable to and often better
than many in Western Europe and the United States.” (Bulhan 1985, p167)
This deprivation and the hard life created a desire in the colonized to live in
comfort like the colonizer. This system creates within the individual an alienated
behavior:
The most common observation about the apartheid victim is that he or she is
characterized by feelings of insecurity and inferiority, self-doubt, self-
ambivalence, feelings of isolation and not belonging, cynicism, lack of
initiative and efficiency, diminished sense of personal behavior, ideas of
persecution, displaced aggression, antisocial behavior and disturbances in
the sense of reality. (Onwuzurike1987, p224)
This system involves the individual as well as the groups, the tribe, and all the
black community. Resulting in collective neuroses.
Grier and Cobbs (1968), both black psychiatrists discovered that black
patients experience extreme frustration and danger, and develop hatred for
the society that forces blackness to be equated to inferiority. They hate
themselves, their parents, their race, for making them black and hence
vulnerable.17 (Onwuzurike 1987, p222)
The colonizer adopted several polices to penetrate the internal structure of the
community, so it becomes unable to confront the colonizer, for example alcohol,
which the colonizer supplied and provided to the colonized at low prices. The
alcohol stimulates the release of the internal violence of the colonized, and that
led to the increase of violence and the insecurity.
Laws controlling the brewing of alcohol are undoubtedly a necessary evil;

yet they have been employed in a manner that is frequently unjust and
arbitrary, and violations number nearly 300.000 per year. Kaffir beer, the
only legal intoxicant for the African, is in many communities the
manufacturing responsibility of the municipal government. Due to the
highly circumscribed limits of purchase and consumption, it is not
17
Quoted in Grier, W and P. Cobbs. Black Rage. (New York: Basic Books. 1968)
18
surprising that illegal home brewing is widely prevalent. (Williamson
1957, p186)
Bulhan comments as follows,
“The West Rand Administration Board, charged with administrative

control of Soweto, held a monopoly on all legal sales of alcohol in the
huge township. In Soweto alone, it used to sell 160 million barrels of
beer annually. The blood and tears shed due to this level of induced and
manipulated consumption are impossible to measure. The number of
lives lost, homes broken up, psyches destroyed--these retell the same
story of ordained auto-destruction. (Bulhan 1985, p173).
All this creates frustration and discontent, which will be released internally –
inside the group, or with each other, but not against the white.
Violence is a phenomena in South Africa. In 1970 homicide was the second

leading cause of death in South Africa, the first being the result of “ill- defined
causes.” (Bulhan 1985, p173).
Blacks suffer from a serious housing shortage, excessive crowding, and

frequent dislocation. Social services for them are almost nonexistent and
when they do exist, they are mediocre. Chronic malnutrition and diseases
are rife. Thus, for instance, the incidence for tuberculosis is 20 times higher
for blacks than for whites. In 1971, infant mortality was 19.4 deaths per
1000 live births for whites and peaked at 250 deaths per 1000 live births for
blacks. A year earlier, life expectancy was 68 years for whites, 62 years for
Asian, 55 years for blacks, and 53 years for coloreds. (Ibid, p167)
Soweto and Johannesburg:
In South Africa dualism may be structured very clearly when describing the
relation and also making a comparison between Soweto and Johannesburg, two
18
Quoted in, E. Harsch. South Africa: White Rule, Black Revolt, (New York: Monad Press, 1980),
p19
regions that are very close to each other--few miles between them---and also
dependent on each other. Soweto is a town for the blacks, and Johannesburg is a
city for the whites. They are two extremes, illustrating Fanon’s discussion of the
principle according to which in “reciprocal exclusivity, no conciliation is
possible.” ( Fanon 1963, p32)
Soweto is the “largest ghetto in the continent of Africa,” (Bulhan 1985, p169),
whereas Johannesburg is an example of a developed European capital.19 Soweto is
a poor, dirty, violent and underdeveloped shantytown. The life in Soweto is
exactly as Fanon says: “They are born there, it matters little where or how; they
die there, it matters not where, nor how. It is a world without spaciousness; men
live on top of each other, and their huts are built one on top of the other.” (Fanon
1963, p32) Whereas Johannesburg is as Fanon describes:
It is a brightly-lit town; the streets are covered with asphalt, and the
garbage-cans swallow all the leavings, unseen, unknown and hardly thought
about. The settler’s feet are never visible, except perhaps in the sea…his
towns are clean and even, with no holes or stones. The settler’s town is a
well-fed, an easy-going town; its belly is always full of good things. (Ibid.,
p32)
Only 15% of the houses in Soweto have bathrooms. For a black person to
own land here involves political and economic complication only a few can
overcome. Poverty and disease are rife. Freedom of speech and of assembly
is nonexistent. Movement is restricted. A permit is needed for everything,
including when and if one can welcome a guest to stay overnight. Police
raids are common; doors are kicked open at dawn and naked and panicked
blacks herded into vans. Blacks are evicted for failing to pay bribes or for
no reason at all, and a host pf other abuses, all of which are designed to
humiliate, torment and exploit blacks, occur.” (Bulhan 1985, p170)
19
See Annex
Johannesburg and Soweto would not be what each is if the other did not
exist. Johannesburg owes its origin to the opening of gold fields and to
cheap labor. By 1910, it overshadowed Cape Town and Kimberly, soon to
become the largest city in South Africa. To this day, in spite of a policy to
quarantine blacks like lepers, Johannesburg cannot do without the hard and
cheap labor of the non-white residents of townships like Soweto. Its
factories, offices, homes, kitchen and even segregated bathrooms depend on
that labor. The sons and daughters of Jo’burgians too rely on the care and
nurturance of the “black nannies” who have no choice but to leave their
own children in ghettoes like Soweto or in a distant homeland so they can
earn a pittance to keep them alive. The 411 or more intensely crowded
trains running daily between Soweto and Johannesburg and the more than
200,000 black passengers they transport around the clock attest to the fact
that apartheid is an official delusion contradicted by the practical exigencies
of everyday living in South Africa. (Ibid., p172)
-------------------------------
Chapter 10
African National Congress (ANC)

Abstract:
“He (colonized) is permeated by colonialism and all its ways of thinking” (Fanon 1963, p36)
This chapter will deal with the most popular party in South Africa: The African
National Congress (ANC) party. It had a significant role in the country especially
when it came into power after the post apartheid. The chapter will also include a
discussion about the Freedom Charter, which was adopted as the ANC’s political
program. This will be analyzed in relation to Fanon‘s philosophy.
An abstract is also included about the situation of Post –Apartheid South Africa,
in terms of the results of the struggle, and the final achievements of the South
African people.
Before going into the history of the ANC, it is worth mentioning the main features
that affected it. Through the long history of colonialism, the colonizer had created
a pattern of the South African mentality. This pattern was crystallized through
accumulated events and through a long period of time in order to find a way to
cope with the colonial environment. The ANC had struggled to emancipate and
destroy this pattern, but failed to do so. The main reasons that led to this failure
were based on three aspects that were reflected in their ideas and practice, these
are:
 The goal of obtaining the recognition and approval of Europe, sustaining

the master-slave relationship. This was discussed by Fanon in his book
BSWM. They did not enter the dialectic process as individuals, groups or
nation, which later lead them to a worse situation. They remained within
the circle of the colonizer.20
20
See Fanon (1967), Ch. 7
 The involvement in the international context at the expense of their

internal balance.
 The deprivation of the original culture
The results of failure were reflected in the decisions and behavior of the ANC.
This led to:
 Inability to create a clear philosophy, and vision which resulted in a

chaotic and confused strategies and practices.
 The emergence of classes conflict.
 The emergence of tribal and regional conflict
 The sustenance and the continuity of the white control.
 The emergence of the informal and clients relationships that became a
competitor to the formal structure.
 The collapse of the value system, leading to corruption and increase in
violence
The ANC was a mask that covered the contradictions of the society. It related
Socialism and Capitalism, the Bourgeoisie class and the mass class, black and
white, different ethnic groups, tribes and nationalism. After reconciliation with the
colonizer this mask was uncovered and all the contradictions and the ironies were
converted from theory, to be practiced in reality.
This paper seeks to show the history of the ANC, the main things that built its
existence, philosophy, and aims to show the structure that led to the failures
mentioned above.
History: 1912 - 1940s
When the tribes of South Africa recognized the dangers of the Europeans, they
fought them with their simple military tools. This struggle ended in Bambata
rebellion – a rebellion of the Zulu tribe under the leadership of (Bambata). This
rebellion was a result of the Zulu’s deprivation of their land. It ended in the death
of about 4000 African and 25 whites only. (Gibson 1972, p56). Bambata‘s
rebellion was a turning point of the struggle path in South Africa, which led to a
new dimension toward institutions, and the tribes as African units no more
confronted the enemy. According to Fanon the earlier generation struggle against
colonialism, although they used their simple methods to confront colonialism, but
they deserve the respect, because they did their best with their simple weapons.
After the suppression of Bambata’s revolution, a lot of violence had spread in
South Africa. It was due to the change of the state structure that determined the
role and the conditions of the blacks, in a way that imposed a formal and
economic system on them. However, this violence was manifested in a confused
and chaotic manner.
After establishing and the approval of the Union in 1910, The African National
Congress (ANC) was established in 1912 under the name of “South African
Natives National Congress” and in 1925 it changed its name to the “ANC”. Seme
Pixely a lawyer, who was educated in U.S.A and Britain, was the founder of the
ANC. He aimed for the reconciliation with the whites. The individuals who
participated in forming the party were from the bourgeoisie class in South Africa,
and were educated in European countries. This bourgeoisie class confronted 1-2%
of the African population.
Their goal of establishing the party was to demand for more rights from the
colonizers. It was a reaction for the Union laws that specified the franchise to the
white, and the laws that give 7% of the lands only to the natives, and they are not
allowed to posses land outside specified areas.
Fanon argues that the people who established the party aimed to build one
following the European pattern. The ANC did not aim to change the system or to
uproot it; it aimed to use peaceful and non-violent approaches to take more power
and authority from the colonizer within the colonial system. The ANC ‘s activities
were specified through petitions, telegram, media but they were useless. So
“Reforms are debated” (Fanon 1963,p48). Also the party at the beginning
consisted of only the bourgeoisie’s class. As Fanon argues that “the political party
consists of a specific group of the society, which do not exceeds 1% of the
population as they approach those elements which are the most politically
conscious.” (Fanon 1963, p88).
He says,
“The entire action of these nationalist political parties during the colonial period
is action of the electoral type: a string of philosophical-political dissertations on
the themes of the rights of peoples to self-determination, the rights man to
freedom from hunger and human dignity, and the unceasing affirmation of the
principle : “ One man , one vote”. (Fanon 1963, p47).
So the beginnings of the ANC fit with what Fanon proposed.
Structure of South Africa:

In South Africa the peasantry depends on land for their livelihood and
compromise 5% of the African economically active population, 20% are laborers
who work in agriculture and as cultivators (take wages). (Friedland 1983, p338)
60% of the African economically active population is the African industrial-

service working class, which encompasses African miners and factory
workers, plus African holding low-status jobs in the service sector of the
economy. The South African system of labor control ensures that about 60%
of the African industrial- service working class remains migrant workers….
The smallest socioeconomic class and the uppermost echelon of the African
society petite-bourgeoisie, which numbers today only about 1% to 2% of the
economically active African population. Belonging to this socioeconomic
class are the African entrepreneurs and independent professionals, as well as
Africans who have high status positions within the service sector of the
economy, and are linked to the former group through the family ties. (Ibid.,
p338)
So in South Africa there is no “peasantry class” according to Fanon’s concept as

explained in part 2. What constitutes a “peasantry” is a small minority extended
from tribes and they cultivate the land to obtain their needs.
In South Africa the workers are “Lumpen proletariat” low–rank workers who
form the majority of the population. Fanon describes the Lumpen proletariat as
those extended from the village; they are a minority and he describes them as
easily attracted to any trend. But in South Africa they are extended from the tribes
and they are majority. The government aimed to create a vulnerable class of low-
rank labor so as to manage it easily.
There is the tribes, which have their power within the society. The majority or the
masses are tribes and with chiefs who manage the internal system of these tribes.
the working class is extended from tribes.
Also there is the bourgeoisie class, who assimilated the European culture, also
they are capitalist who aim to increase their wealth and power within the society.
This class consists of the commercial and the intellectual groups. “The liberation’s
concept to this class (the bourgeoisie) meant: 1. Possessing the political and
economic institution of the nation 2. Educated elite is a major force for change the
system. Employing the parliamentary process.” (Ibid., p339). The bourgeoisie
class in South Africa was a clear class.
The ANC was established and managed by the bourgeoisie class. As the ANC
extended through time, its administrative structure developed and consisted of two
general councils: One is the tribal Chief council and the other is the General
Council (Gibson, 1972). The existence of the chief councils shows the important
role of the tribes inside the society, although the society was trending toward
industrialization.
At first the Bourgeoisies believed they could obtain rights through demands,
letters, newspapers, petitions, deputation- (that is, accepted methods) unions,
demonstration, and strikes. When the Colonizer’s response was violent, they
suppressed the party; the police used forces against the demonstrations. Raids on
the ANC offices and detention of the leaders made the bourgeoisie leadership
withdraw from the party as it threatened their interests. “Following their
departure, these persons either formed a found in opposition to the ANC, or were
incorporated into the South African Colonial administrative structure” (Friedland
1981, p341)
The behavior of the ANC can be understood from the structure of its leadership.
This behavior depended on the individuals who lead the party. It depended on
what their goals were and on the level of their consciousness. In the 1940s the
leadership started to change in the sense that the workers became involved in the
leadership whereas the Bourgeoisie decrease. After 1960s the Bourgeoisie
returned and played a role in the leadership.
The techniques of the ANC were widened and developed. Its way of demanding
rights then changed. More demonstrations were planned and called for the
improvement of the African’s situations. The government‘s reaction was so severe
and new laws were established to suppress them. They were banned, meetings
were forbidden, and the police force was used against them.
Fanon argues that nationalism starts to take its path by starting to call for the
rights of the labor, to improve their conditions. These demands will gradually
develop until a new trend towards “nationalism” would be adopted.
Unions:
Fanon concentrates on the role of unions, and specifies the role of the workers.
Indeed in South Africa the unions played a crucial role in developing the political
party - the ANC- and also in creating the consciousness of nationalism, as later
the unions became under the management of the ANC.
Fanon says:
“It is through a multiplicity of demonstrations in support of their claims and
through an increase in trade-union demands that the rank-and-file achieve
their political education” (Fanon 1963, p87)
This was obvious in the role that was played by the “Labor Union for Commerce
and Manufacturing”. It was founded in 1919 by “Klimentax Kadele”, in Cape
Town and later was spread everywhere in South Africa. Its members of workers
were initially 24, and later in 1928 reached a number of 25000 members. The
labor was attracted easily to the Union. The goal of the union was to ask for an
increase in the wages of the Labor, an adjustment of the work circumstances, and
to posses the rights of the workers. This Union played a crucial role in the
ideological dimension of the Liberation movement. It held strikes in different

regions that were faced by further violence and suppression by the police. Many
African workers were killed and many more were detained. (Gibson 1972, p60-
67).
In 1921 Bonting established the Communist Party (CP)21, whose members were
mostly whites. They were very interested in the Union and became involved in it.
The CP had deep relations with both the Africans and the white’s workers. There
was a continuous conflict between Klemintex and Bonting. Bonting was
considered an extremist, and was fired out because of his faithfulness to the
Blacks.
There were doubts and disputes, frauds, chaos competition on the authority, there
was always skepticism on the Communists intention. There were internal conflicts
between individuals on the financial issues in the Union. In 1929 the entire
communists were fired out from the leadership of the Union. Klementax was
criticized for his weak administration and the unclear political program. All that
had led to the collapse of the Union. (Gibson,1972)
Although the Union collapsed, but its impact was clear in raising the awareness of
the blacks on their rights and the confrontation of the white as a strong group. The
barrier between the blacks and the whites was broken, and that was considered the
beginning of building the African consciousness. Fanon argues that nationalism
takes it path even sometimes with great hardness. He says,
“During the colonial phase, the nationalist trade-union organizations
constitute an impressive striking power. In the towns, the trade-unionist can
bring to a standstill, or at any rate slow down at any given moment, the
colonialist economy” (Fanon 1963, p98)
Until 1940 the ANC was not considered a strong political party, but rather a weak
body whose activities were not effective. Later in the 1940s the ANC started to
21
The Communist Party (CP) was established in 1921, and ended itself in 1950.It was formed
through bourgeoisie individuals, most of them white.
take a new path as a political party. Its features became clearer, and headed
towards the building of a program that included more masses. They adopted the
non-violence strategy for emancipation.
In the 1940s, the new leadership took a new path for its ideology and its vision of
the entire South African system. It is obvious here that there was a difference
between the leadership and the members of the political party. Fanon confuses
between the two.
--------------------------------------
1940s –1960:
At the end of the 40s a new trend within the party appeared. The ANC, as a
political party developed a philosophy and program of emancipation. Two
Leagues were established within the ANC: the “Youth League” appeared in 1944,
and the older one “Old guard”. The Youth League had made a main change in the
ANC. While before its appearance the ANC adopted the concept of “unity and
multi-racial society” and had no clear vision on nationalism and the structure of
the state, the Youth League had a remarkable personality called “Anton Lembede”
who played a crucial role in the ANC as he asserts the concept of “African
Nationalism”. Alembe who died in 1947 by cancer was considered the founder of
the ideological base for the ANC.
In 1948 the Youth League proposed a “Nationalism program” as a reaction to the

white racism.
“It clearly proposed a social democracy, a system which blacks would

dominate because of their substantial majority. It called upon the A.N.C to
reject all forms of social dominance, segregation, apartheid, partnership, or
trusteeship, which the program said were all “in one way or another,
motivated by the idea of white domination”. In addition to rejecting white
rule, the plan also called for “ boycott” strikes, civil disobedience, (and) non-
cooperation as weapons in the fight for liberation” (Feit1972, p184).
The approach of the older men towards the Apartheid was different. They wanted
to be peaceful and to make reconciliation with the whites. The league’s proposal
was therefore refused.
The Youth League criticized the ANC’s advocacy for the N.R.C22, the ambiguity
of the concept of “ Nationalism” that the ANC adopted and effect of the South
African Communist Party (SACP) 23 in the ANC.
The Congress Youth league was orderly, dignified and business like. One
Quickly gained the impression that here were men who hated oppression
and realized that neither hot and flaming emotions nor extravagant language
would help us, but that hard, solid and planned work would 24 (Ibid., p186)
The Youth league didn’t trust the communists in the ANC and regarded them as a
“double-dealer.” They felt that the communist were opposed to African
22
The Native representative Council (N.R.C): In the 1930s, the government proposed the
establishment of a council for the natives. Although many refused this idea, many of the
A.N.C members accepted the proposal and managed the council. They believed that it may
adjust and give more rights to the natives, but later it proved to fail and was ended in 1950
through the government as it was recognized to have no benefits.
23
The SACP: At the beginning its name was the Communist Party of South Africa. At many
occasions, its behavior was suspected. For example, in 1922 the white workers made a strike
to maintain their privileges if racism decreased. They were advocators to that strike, and also
they were advocators for the participation in the WII.
In the 1950 the Communist Party of South Africa dissolved (disband) itself, as the
government started to threaten its existence. Then a new party was extended with a new
philosophy and was named “The South African Communist Party”.
The impact of the Youth League inside the ANC, and on the Defiance Champion created
new circumstances which promoted the ANC as a successful political party. The SACP
tried to strengthen its philosophy so as to be in conformity with the ANC and to cooperate
with it.
In 1953 it emerged with the ANC, It had revised its vision regarding the relationship between
the class struggle and nationalism. Before it adopted the philosophy of class struggle without
paying attention to Nationalism. But the new circumstances forced the SACP to review their
philosophy, and this lead to its adoption of the theory that S.A considered “a colonialism of a
special type” and also the idea of Nationalism. The SACP was under the leadership of the
ANC, but their relation was so controversial.
There are a lot of writings that analyze the deep impact of SACP on the vision, decisions, and
practices of the ANC.
24
Quoted in “Inkundla ya Bantu, January 8, 1949.
Bantu Batho: The ANC’s official newspaper from 1912 to 1931
nationalism. The Youth League members concentrated solely on their own

interests. The anti-communist feeling was therefore strengthened among the
younger men that Oliver Tambo, a prominent Youth league leader, used his power
to destroy all those purported to be party members. (Ibid.,, p185)
Fanon argues that the political party has no clear vision, has no clear
terminologies, and seeks the approval of the colonizer. Then a group within the
party starts to criticize the policy of the political party, and asks for a clear
program. This group will be rebuked because they are considered immature and
their view is far from the reality. This relationship can be structured between the
Youth league and the Old guard as they criticized the old guard for their unclear
philosophy and their relation to the other groups within the society like the SACP.
In 1948, when the Nationalist Party (NP) won the election, its power was
extended among the Nation. It forced new laws that had strengthened the racism
in South Africa: new laws for mixed marriage, labor, franchise for the colored,
and more constraints on the Native. The ANC aimed for unity in confronting the
White racism through the unity of the A.N.C and A.A.C25 and to place all the
internal conflict (between the two trends) aside so as to challenge the developed
and intense racist system.
In 1952 the ANC intended to make non-violent demonstrations and established

the Defiance Campaign, which was a successful one.
Eight thousand five hundred volunteers participated and A.N.C

membership rose markedly, at one time reaching an estimated 200,000,
almost double precampaign figures. For once African opinion seemed
unified behind the African National Congress. Despite this, the campaign
failed to achieve any of its real objects. (Ibid., p190)
25
The “All African Convention” (A.A.C) aimed achieve more rights from the whites. It
believed in Smuts idea, that the government will establish a council (the Native
Representative Council elections) to represent the “Native” and aim to improve the Native’s
situation. A lot of memberships of the ANC switched to that party by the influence of the
government, and a lot of people were attracted to these promises. These promises proved to
be just a lie. The AAC wanted to be a competitor to the ANC but at the end it proved its
failure.
This campaign showed the readiness of the masses to struggle and to be leaded.
Although they knew that the response of this campaign may be severe and violent,
and dealt by the police to suppress them. Here as Fanon also argues that the
masses who are usually the weaker party are ready to fight when they are called
for that. This shows the truth and spontaneity of these people. These oppressed
people are always so ready because they don’t have much to lose.
The goal of the campaign was to defy the apartheid rules. The result was on the
one hand that the intensity of the racist system increased as the colonizer feared
the campaign and on the other hand it was the beginnings to unite the masses. As
Fanon argues that “[t]he repression, far from calling a halt to the forward rush of
national consciousness, urge it” (Fanon 1963, p56). In the beginning of the 1940s
the political party started to structure itself, the leadership was from various
sectors of the society. It started to take more political trend. Fanon argues that the
political party began by demanding social rights and then it developed itself to
become a political party as it directed itself toward nationalism and Patronage.
This Campaign stimulated the feelings of unity and patronage with some success.
At that time the behavior of the ANC was dependent on the individuals who
managed the ANC; each president (head of the ANC) has his own vision.
Consequently, they decided to adopt a program so as to determine the trend of the
ANC. In 1955 they adopted the Freedom Charter as a political program, which
shall be discussed later.
The Charter increased the conflict between the “Old Guard “ and the “Youth
League”, where part of the Youth League refused the Freedom Charter and got
out of the ANC and formed another political party in 1959 called Pan – Africanist
Congress (PAC). This group realized the failures of the ANC and believed in the
work through strikes, boycotting of the workers in, which South Africa’s
economy depend on them. Also it believed in the non-violent means.
As Fanon says,
“When the intellectual elements have carried out a prolonged analysis of the
true nature of colonialism and of the international situation, they will begin to
criticize their party’s lack of ideology and the poverty of its tactics and strategy.
They begin to question their leaders ceaselessly on crucial points… what is
nationalism? What sense do you give to this word? What is its meaning?
Independence for what?… After the first skirmishes, the officials leaders
speedily dispose of this effervescence which they are quick to label as
childishness. (Fanon 1963, p100)
What happened is similar to Fanon’s proposal as he described the behavior of the

political party. He argues that a new party will emerge from the original one but
according to Fanon this new political party should overshadow the original one
and lead the masses and control the struggle process. But this did not happen in
S.A, because the ANC controlled all the funds and succeeded to get international
and local approval. So the PAC could not confront the ANC, which succeeded to
have external allies. Also the ANC worked and aimed to suppress the PAC so as
not to be a competitor. With the PAC significantly weakened, the ANC became
the most popular and representative party of South Africa.
This was a turning point, but unfortunately the ANC did not allow the PAC to
expand through the attraction of the various and different parties inside the
society, especially the South Africa Communist Party (SACP) -which had the
support the Soviet Union as well as different ethnic groups. The PAC became
weaker still as a result of the efforts of many parties that challenge the
development of the PAC, so as not to allow the black patronage to be an extreme
which could be a threat to the whites.
The aim of the ANC was the unity regardless of the philosophy and the concepts
of the political party. That led to the confusion of the concepts inside it. There was
not a clear vision of the party. While the goal was to end the apartheid system and
the white sovereignty, this later put them in a crisis. This is exactly what Fanon
proposed when he criticized the political party for not knowing but just
concentrating on unity. Even the ANC at first refused “Nationalism” and later it
adopted it, but it was not oriented inside it. It was just a weapon to struggle
against the European colonialism according to the European concept. This
shallow adoption of nationalism later put them in crisis as it built its existence on
the realization of the “other”. As Fanon argues,
National consciousness, instead of being the all-embracing crystallization of

the innermost hopes of the whole people instead of being the immediate and
most obvious result of mobilization of the people, will be in any case only an
empty shell, a crude and fragile travesty of what it might have been. (Fanon
1963, p121)
The ANC worked as to attract all the trends into it. The ANC directed the Unions
of the workers and officers who were responsible to manage the unions. Also it
established committees inside which included most of the parties in South Africa-
the colored, the whites, the communist – all under the leadership of the ANC.
These committees – although small, influenced the crucial decisions and polices
of the ANC, especially since some of these parties adopted the policies that were
determined externally, especially the SACP.
The ANC contained individuals from the extreme good to the extreme bad,
extreme capitalist to the extreme socialist, black and white, workers and
bourgeoisie, but it imposed on these groups (parties) the adoption of the Freedom
Charter. The ANC relied heavily on the Charter a lot and considered it as a
leading document and program that directs the people.
The Freedom Charter:26
The Freedom Charter was adopted in 1955 as a program and targeted the future.
The charter was made through one of the consultant committees of the ANC
called “The National Council” which wrote the draft of the Freedom Charter. This
Charter was bias to the white then a discussion continued for 4 years about the
charter. In June 1955, in a mixed political popular and folklore party, and under
26
See Annex
the protection of the police of South Africa, they adopted this Charter as the
political program of South Africa. Also the whites were advocators and worked
for the approval of the Charter, and many who gave their voices of approval were
not members in the ANC. The way the Freedom Charter was imposed was
dictatorial. (Gibson 1972, p91).
In order to gain the approval of the different trends, the ANC made the contents of
the Charter very general and ambiguous that is could be interpreted differently at
different times. As Richard Tomlinson says,
“One must accept that much of the debate (meaning of the freedom charter) is
fatuous….It is not clear whether it seeks for a social system or capitalism.
Sometimes it concentrates on the individuals and sometimes on groups – that
is equality between groups in which the ANC rejected the groups as ethnic. It
doesn’t contain the techniques of how the state should be, rather just so
general things. There is no clear statement that the state will be socialist and
the working class power is not mentioned. They call for the welfare state –
which is a capitalist phenomenon… Also the apartheid system, they don’t
mention the classes and their relation to each other. It is interpreted according
to the individual’s recognition and desire; Tambo view it that it shows a
mixed economy, Mandela view it as it provides the circumstances to the
emergence of class, including the middle class. The SACP view it as an
expression of the socialist system and some of the bourgeoisie of the ANC
interpret it as capitalist charter.” (Tomlinson 1988)
Fatton comments on the charter,

“The Charter, however, in spite of representing the program of a
revolutionary and supposedly socialist struggle of liberation, articulates an
essentially petty-bourgeoisie populism. It is therefore no wonder that the
ANC’s conception of the transition to socialism remained an enigma and a
mystery, and that its vision of democracy persisted in being no more than
genuinely liberal and humanitarian.” (Fatton 1983, p597)
The ANC adopted this Charter, which gave the impression of socialism,
but the ANC negates itself as a Socialist party. As Oliver Thabo Mbeki
once said “ The ANC is not a socialist party. It has never pretended to be
one, has never said it was and is not trying to be”27 The ANC adopted
Socialism as a matter of convenience rather than commitment. The Charter
first emphasized general equal rights, and the abolishment of the apartheid
system rules. It does not go much further about the details of the system or
the details of the way of struggle, or even the structure of the state.
(Tomlinson 1988, p49).
However, the Freedom Charter may be an indicator of the political consciousness

of the ANC and also shows that the ANC’s existence is based on the international
concepts, and that is why most of its efforts were concentrated on looking for
allies, as Fanon argues that the political party is always searching for allies.
So we may conclude that in the 1940s the ANC started to activate itself, but then
disputes and division spread within the party especially after the approval of the
Freedom Charter which weakened it. It ended up splitting into two: The ANC and
the PAC. The ANC adopted the Freedom Charter, which reflected its approach.
The contradictions and ambiguity in the Charter actually reflects what the ANC
actually is. However, The ANC adopted it and considered it as a reference and
imposed it on anyone who wanted to be a member. The period of the 1940s and
1950s is considered very important as it structured the concepts and the trends of
the political party. It built a weak basement which later made a lot of mistakes and
shortcomings due to this weak basement.
1960 –1970
“They (ANC) perceived the national liberation struggle in South Africa as an

integral part of the universal struggle against colonialism and imperialism”
(Friedland 1983, p344)
27
Quoted in H. Adam. “ Implications of the May 1987 White elections in south Africa.”
Paper presented at a seminar of the Center for African Studies. 21/2: 235-251, 1987
Between 1960 and 1970, the main party in South Africa was the ANC. In the
1960s it took a new path after Sharpsville28. The event of Sharpsville occurred at
the period in which many of the African nations adopted their independence.
Also, this was accompanied by the application of the apartheid system. All these
together affected the strategy of the ANC and it adopted the armed struggle. It
established its military branch “Umkhonto we Sizwe” which means the spear of
the nation. However, they wanted to organize violence and believed in the
guerilla, but actually in reality they didn’t do anything and it was a very poor
military and it didn’t threaten the system. Actually it stopped the violent use in
1963, and specified its role. So that was just a temporary reaction.
The ANC believed in the guerrilla wars, and in the 1960s the ANC members were
trained on the guerilla campaign in Tanzania, and they became very professional
in the guerilla wars. These troops however had nothing to do after training. That
vacuum was accompanied by the increase in their number, which led to the
increase of individuals disputes which corrupted life in the military camps.
(Gibson, 1972)
Actually these troops were not utilized for their main purposes, which was
struggle against the colonizer. This was also the result of their inability to return
to South Africa.
Also, the ANC believed that the struggle must be through the working class as
they formed the economic base (Gibson 1972). This was a limitation for the ANC
as it specified the struggle on the masses. In struggle there are no classes and
levels, these should collapse, according to Fanon everyone must participate in the
struggle and in building the nation: the worker, the peasants, the educated, the
intellectual and the tribes.
28
The P.A.C prepared for a passive demonstrations against the pass laws in 1960 in different
regions. The government suppressed them and killed 69 one and 180 were injured, which was
called the Sharpsville event
In 1961, 1962 and as a result of the severe suppression, many left South Africa.
Many of them were Europeans, also a lot of members of the ANC and the PAC
left. In the exile the whites made a campaign that ended in forming the Congress
Alliance. It was afraid from the extreme trend of the Blacks’ patron, so it aimed to
negate the role of the PAC through isolating it. Even the individuals that were
near to Alembe, they tried to negate their roles. (Gibson 1972)
After construction of the “Homelands” the bourgeoisie played a role in managing

them. The ANC aimed to attract them and gave them a role in the leadership. This
bourgeoisie aimed to protect its own interests as a capitalist class. The ANC did
not seek to decrease the contradiction inside the society; it rather aimed at
increasing them. Here dualism is clearly manifest.
The ANC tried to get the approval of the minorities in the society in managing the
party, such as the colored and the whites (the Europeans), and that weakened their
“Nationalism”. The ANC made its existence to overcome the existence of the
Nation, and so the goals to protect the party surfaced above the national goals.
Attraction was at the expense of everything. (See p22)
It included various political parties so as to make them in one bloc regardless of

the color. Also it did not give attention to tribes, but actually the color of the skin
played a crucial role in the politics of South Africa and also the tribes are the basic
unit of the society: they negate all their relation to the past, and attached their
future with the new concepts of the world and the aim was “unity of action”. Here
Fanon criticizes the political party because it has no vision: its aim just
independence.
They aimed to posses the State; but this was not the thing that leads to
emancipation. Their vision was ambiguous and many of the individuals that
managed the ANC were very penetrated individuals, and they did not get rid of
their inferiority which Fanon describes the psychology of the black man in his
book BSWM. The ANC historical context gives an idea about that thing. They
dealt with colonialism as a de facto, and built their vision according to that fact.
They did not aim to make a radical change for all the backwardness and
oppression that remained more than 300 years. They continued with the same
process.
Classes: The ANC didn’t have any analyses of the classes; it dealt with the
national demands as the main object.
However since this exploiting nation is an “ alien body only in the

historical sense” whose “ roots…have been embedded in our country by
more than three centuries of presence, it cannot fade away; its domination
must be ended by the combined powers of the black “oppresses nation”29.
In this analysis the struggle for liberation is therefore emptied of its class
content, and the confrontation between the races takes precedence. Since
the ANC envisages the revolution in terms of a class between “oppressed”
and “exploiting nations”, the class structure becomes unimportant and
nationalism becomes an ideological cloak covering up social contradiction
and diverging objectives. The primacy of the black/ white dichotomy is
emphasized at the expense of a serious class analysis “ (Fatton 1984,
p596)
The ANC is contradictory in its philosophy. It argues that there is a race conflict
black and white as Oliver Tambo says “ The enemy of the black man is the white
man” and there are white members in the ANC in the SACP which refuses the
concept of black and white. Refusing that dichotomy means negating all the
historical context of South Africa. The ANC converted the philosophy of
colonialism from black and white to oppressed and oppressor, which means a
class conflict. So here there is a difference that weakened the struggle against
colonialism.
Leadership and the masses:
The philosophy of the ANC was reflected in its behavior: The leaders were
outside the country seeking the approval of the international community. It made
29
African National Congress (1977), 183.
petitions, conferences…etc. It was so far from the masses to an extent that it had
forgotten its role and the leadership and the masses each had his own trend.
The exile condition of the leadership separated it from the collective

struggles of the masses. Such a condition and separation made less urgent
the theorization of an alternative material and social order, since it was
assumed that the basic goals and aspiration of the black people were still
those encapsulated in the Freedom Charter” (Ibid., p598)
Fanon when he describes revolution, asserts the role of the leadership, and the
need for their involvement with the masses. The more the unity, the more the
revolution is successful. It depends on the depth of the leadership in the masses.
This was not achieved in South Africa, and the leadership remained in exile, as if
they are divided, the leadership depended on the Freedom Chart in achieving the
unity, but at the end it is a paper.
This involuntary basic shift further detached the leaders from their people
and imposed serious limitations on the effectiveness of an already
debilitated liberation movement. The movement was subjected
simultaneously to the problems of survival in a new and foreign setting and
to the enormous challenge of re-organizing and re-building from “outside”
the internal underground in conditions of intensified state repression.
(Fatton 1984, p599)
In exile, the leaders tended to fall victims to inflated rhetoric and to over –
reliance on foreign support. Condemned to exile and relative powerlessness,
the ANC, from 1964 to 1967, released its deepening frustrations in demagogic
flurries. Since its external mission was quite unprepared for the task that had
fallen on its shoulder, the focus of the struggle swung increasingly away from
the crucial internal axis towards the tangential international scene”30 (Ibid.,
p599)
30
Quoted in John Marcum. “ The Exile Condition and Revolutionary Effectiveness: Southern
African Liberation Movements”, 1972
Their efforts to obtain the sympathy of the outside achieved nothing but false
illusions and hopes. The leadership got so involved outside to an extent that it
became distant from the struggles, and the masses who should struggle with and
direct them had forgotten their aim “that is liberation of South Africa. They
continued to make conferences, petitions, media, but all at the expense of the
internal nation. Fanon criticizes the leadership because it spends most of its time
to the international context and marginalizing the internal nation. Thus we have
the internal and the external.
The ANC dealt with revolution in a very alert way; they wanted to overcome all
the stages of revolution. According to Fanon the revolution develops and it is a
hard experience as it aims to uproot all the backwardness and inferiority that was
rooted deeply in South Africa. So the ANC failed to make a revolution from
Fanon’s perspective. Even the Armed Struggle did not achieve anything. The
ANC rejected the popular uprising as a route to revolution, they believed in the
guerilla war. But later this strategy failed and they didn’t give any alternative.
This is because it became unable to view the nation as it got so involved in the
international context. It became so involved in their “ false consciousness”.
Herbst says,
“[t]he leaders of the ANC rejected popular rebellion as an option because of

the dangers it posed to blacks in South Africa. Nelson Mandela, speaking
from the dock at the Rivonia trial where he was convicted for sabotage in
1963, said that the ANC sought to “canalize and control the feelings of our
31
people” through organized armed struggle….Mandella explained that
trend as that the unorganized armed struggle will lead to more violence
and especially after Apartheid. There would be outbreaks of terrorism
which would produce an intensity of bitterness and hostility between the
various races of this country which is not produced even by war. (Herbst
1989, p 666)
31
Quoted in Nelson Mandela, “ Rivonia Trial Statement” in No Easy Walk to Freedom’
(London: Heineman 1983), 164-169.
The ANC viewed that popular revolution cannot be done in South Africa because
of the very sophisticated police system. So they doubted the success of such a
rebellion. For example: The Soweto uprising was a popular uprising, and other
popular uprisings that occurred in the period 1960 – 1980 were not through the
ANC. The ANC criticized them, as they would not lead to anything. Fanon argues
as he describes the political party who refuse violence: that “every attempt to
break colonial oppression by force is a hopeless effort, an attempt at suicide”
(Fanon 1963,p50)
They tried to marginalize the idea of classes justifying that by “Nationalism” and
unity, although as it seems in the Freedom Charter, that they adopted a socialist
system. But contradictory, they attracted the bourgeoisie class – who worked to
sustain their own financial power- and on the other hand, the working class within
the party and becomes, for example “capitalist and socialist”. It assimilated all the
contradictions inside the society, and its behavior lead to the existence of this
class, as a powerful one and approved of by the whites. So as if the classes existed
but the circumstances were not capable of holding a class struggle. The ANC did
not aim to solve the contradictions, and rather stimulated them.
Culture: they did not have a vision of the culture; whose culture should dominate.
Rather they believed in a multi-racial nation, that is united through Nationalism.
Here I would like to comment on the feasibility of Nationalism being applied in a
State that consists of different ethnic groups. The whites are divided into two:
British and the Boer; the colored consists of Indians and others, and there are the
Blacks. How can these different cultures, languages, trends come together under
the concept of “nationalism”.
The ANC did not aim to control the State, impose its culture, and to deal with the
white as a minor ethnic group inside South Africa, that has no right in the
economics, politics of the State. Rather it aimed to apply a desire to live with the
colonizer peacefully. This desire extended from the way the colonized looked at
the colonizer – as Fanon says the colonized hate the colonizer but at the same time
look at him enviously and he does not want to be like him rather to replace him.
It didn’t have clear ideas about how the ethnicity that exist in the society should
function, justifying that the unity destroys all ethnicities, but this was not true. It is
the same thing as classes.
They view that democracy and political participation can get rid of all the
contradictions that existed and accumulated in South Africa for that long period of
time and structured the society as weak, chaotic, a follower and penetrated
society. There is no orientation in its philosophy, neither nationalism, nor
capitalism, neither socialism nor tribalism. Political participation, as Samuel
Huntington argues, gets rid of all the contradictions.
The ANC had the intention but not the program. Intention alone does not build a
nation. They dealt with results and not with ideology and philosophy of existence
and so the results directed the work and the process of “emancipation”. They
behaved through their false consciousness as they aimed for reconciliation
between two contradictory forces.
So between the period of 1960-1980, the society was divided between the
leadership and the masses. Each had a different trend. This resulted in a leadership
functioned as if there were no masses and the masses functioned as they had
forgotten that there was a leadership. Here also is manifest the dualism in the
internal structure of the ANC. Also this period was accompanied by an increase in
the racist polices of apartheid which exerted a lot of pressure on the people as the
result of the homelands and the labor system, and also as a result of changing the
system, so these new changes increased the gap between them.
Fanon justifies and explains that there are some events and features of rebellion
that happen suddenly such as, a rebellion by the peasants. He explains that these
rebellions occurred as a result in the increase of the gap between the political
party and the masses, and the masses rebel when the political party strengthens its
position and on the other hand marginalize the peasants. Suddenly the peasants
erupt because they feel they their life and existence are threatened.32 This
rebellion is not a result of philosophical controversy, rather the result
circumstances.
This is actually what had happened in 1984 in South Africa as the leadership was
strengthening its position and on the other hand the masses were marginalized and
felt their lives were threatened by death so a rebellion occurred.
1984-1986 revolution:
Fanon says,
The party political machine may remain intact. But as a result of the
colonialist repression and of the spontaneous reaction of the people the parties
find themselves out-distanced by their militants. The violence of the masses is
vigorously pitted against the military forces of the occupying power, and the
situation deteriorates and comes to a head. Those leaders who are free remain,
therefore on the touchline. The have suddenly become useless, with their
bureaucracy and their reasonable demands; yet we see them, far removed
from events, attempting the crowning imposture-that of speaking in the name
of “silenced nation”. As general rule, colonialism welcomes this god-send
with open transforms these “blind mouths” into spokesmen, and in two
minutes endows them with independence, on condition that they restore order.
(Fanon 1963, p56).
The only threats to the regime between 1963and 1984 were unorganized
popular revolt, which the ANC and the SACP had warned would not lead
anywhere” (Herbst1989, p667)
In 1984 a popular uprising occurred in South Africa and it spread everywhere and
cannot be stopped; it was like a fire. This rebellion was not through the ANC but
through the masses only. The masses were the wretched, the poor and those who
were marginalized. As Fanon says,
32
See Fanon 1963, p 92
“It is within this mass of humanity, this people of shanty towns, at the core
of the Lumpen-proletariat that the rebellion will find its urban spearhead.
For the Lumpen –proletariat, that horde at starving men uprooted from
their tribe and from their clan, constitutes one of the most spontaneous and
the most radically revolutionary forces of a colonized people. (Fanon
1963, p103)
Also as Fanon says, “The rising disconcerts the political parties. Their doctrine in
fact, has always affirmed the uselessness of a trial of force, and their very
existence is a constant condemnation of all rebellion”. (Fanon 1963, p102)
The uprising of the township was accompanied by popular protest. The violence
and the strikes, the uprisings – all together were to make the system collapse.
As the uprising grow everywhere and it includes a lot of violence. The ANC tried
to veer this popular uprising toward its own interest, and began to adjust its tactics
and view toward revolution, so that the rebellion will be in conformity with its
strategy. The ANC called for mobilizing the youth of the township for revolution,
so as to merge itself with the masses rebellion.33
At the very least, ANC officials have tried hurriedly to adjust their
strategic doctrine to the new outbreaks of violence by arguing that the
popular uprising are an integral part of the ANC’s onslaught against South
Africa. Oliver Tambo, president of the African National Congress, now
declares that the role of Umkhonto we Sizwe is to lead the “mass combat
units” that are now forming in the “mass insurrectionary zones” in South
Africa’s township34. In a demonstration of just how far some in the ANC
have moved from their traditional doctrine, ANC radio now urges blacks
in South Africa to train themselves in guerrilla warfare in order to promote
insurrection. Yet at the same time, Tambo has acknowledged that the pace
of the revolutionary struggle will be determined by organized political
violence spearheaded by Umkhonto35 ( Herbst 1989, p671)
33
See Herbst (1989), 669-670.
34
Oliver, Tambo, “Attack! Advance! Give the enemy no Quarter!” ( Sechaba , Mnarch
1986), p6.
35
Oliver, Tambo, Render South Africa Ungovernable, (Sechaba, March 1985), p11.
The period of 1984 to 1986 was characterized as very violent: people were killed,
injured and much property was damaged. “Two thirds of the dead were killed by
South African state bodies and that the remainder of the deaths resulted from
black-on- black violence.”(Herbst 1989, p668). This shows that the violence was
released internally, and on the other hand against the colonizer, but what is
obvious that violence was political violence which structured against the
government and those who advocate it (especially the black police), and also the
chiefs and officials who cooperate with the colonizer. “For instance, between
September 1984 and the end of Marsh 1985, “ there were 243 acts of violence
against community councilors, including 66 petrol-bombings which totally gutted
32 homes,36 Between September 1984 and June 1985, 240 black officials,
including 27 mayors, resigned.37 “ (Herbst 1989, p668)
Fanon describes the spontaneity and the collectivity of the masses as factors
which the leadership tries to exploit in strengthening its position. The state enters
a state of emergency and chaos spreads as if the country will be emancipated
within days.
The revolution spread everywhere and the economy entered into crisis. Actually
the economy deteriorated, the government became in a crisis, and called for
negotiation with the ANC to end the Apartheid and the white domination. The
ANC viewed that the struggle would not lead to anything because of the military
gap. It did not foresee progress, especially since the international context had
changed with the collapse of the Soviet Union, which used to support it.
As the rebellion spread the colonizer became unable to control the rebellion, so it
imposed a solution: to prevent the development of the rebellion into revolution,
which if developed would be uncontrollable.
36
Quoted in Michael Morris, Soapy Water and Cabinda. (Cape town: Terrorism Research
Center, 1985), 17.
37
Quoted in Martin Murray, South Africa: Time of Agony, Time of Destiny. (London: Verso,
1987), 303
Fanon argues that the colonizer may impose independence as an anti-

revolutionary strategy, here in South Africa the colonizer imposed reconciliation,
and in 1987 a new trend and policy was adopted by the colonizer toward “ The
peace process”. A trend toward compromise as Fanon argues that compromise
includes the emergence of the Bourgeoisie which continue to have good contact
with the colonizer. Fanon also argues that the colonizer tries to extend the period
of negotiations as long as possible so as to decrease the demands of the other
party, in addition to choose the people who are capable for negotiations.
The government aimed for reconciliation within an institutional framework.

Although the ANC had previously refused negotiation and considered it as
dishonorable. However, two trends appeared within the ANC: a part which
advocated the revolution and a portion who advocated negotiations. So there was
a gap inside the ANC itself, but at the end it accepted the compromise.
Revolution. The ANC tried to structure and to draw a vision of revolution, but in
fact a revolution is an experience, which creates its facts and features through that
experience. The ANC tried to separate the violent spirit from the revolutionary
techniques, justifying that violence will create and produce violence. As Fanon
argues “Non- violence is an attempt to settle the colonial problem around a green
braise table, before any regrettable act has been performed or irreparable gesture
made, before any blood has been shed “ (Fanon 1963, p49)
In 1989, De Klerk- from the NP- became the president for the republic, who
projected himself as a liberal person who sought to give rights to the blacks. He
believed in sharing and dealing with the world and in adopting a bigger market.
He showed intention for reconciliation through negotiations. The outcome of the
new state was toward negotiation with those whom the party accepts. They sought
for a Political solution.
The 1990 period is considered crucial as it aimed to restructure South Africa in a

new form. De Klerk un-banned all the opposition groups, the main Apartheid
rules were dismantled, and the blacks leaders were released, and Nelson Mandela
was one of them. De klerk also concentrated on the franchise of rights and
equality of justice.
“ All South Africans, hopefully proclaimed the “ Manifesto for the New South
Africa which was unveiled by President De Klerk on February1, 1991, shared
“Christian values and universally accepted civilized norms and standards”38
(Ottaway 1991, p17)
As Fanon argues that “[w]hen the colonial bourgeoisie, when it realizes that it is
impossible for it to maintain its domination over the colonial countries, [it]
decides to carry out a rear –guard action with regard to culture, values ,
techniques and so on” ( Fanon 1963, p35). As De klerk concentrated on the values
in his Manifesto, the compromise and the negotiation transferred South Africa
into a new form and style.
Post Apartheid - Comments:
The post apartheid period is considered a new form of colonialism in which the
circumstances and features were ripe for transition to this new stage.
From a birds-eye view, South Africa consists of tribes, laborers, bourgeoisie, the
leadership and the prisoners, the leadership and the masses. The apartheid system
used each of them to strengthen the colonizer’s control. It aimed to reform the
internal social structure of the native.
1. The tribes and the chiefs: The apartheid system aimed to restructure the
society as it divided it into reserves. These reserves were managed by the
bourgeoisie who behaved like a bourgeoisie and also they were managed by the
chiefs.
Fanon sometimes flattered the chiefs of the tribes and that they should be
respected and sometimes described them as those who cooperated with the
colonizer and aim to strengthen tribalism to an extent that the tribe becomes a
political party. Also he describes these traditional chiefs usually who are
38
State President’s Office ,” Manifesto for a New South Africa” February1, 1991, mimeo.
supported by the colonizer, and who feels that its enemy are those elite who try to
negate tribalism and negate their role as they aim to change the rural regions, and
that results that a kind of harmony occurs between them the colonizer as these
elite becomes the main enemy.
In South Africa both of them existed: some chiefs were working with the
colonizer, and others refused and continue to be faithful to their people, and
played a role to managing the masses, although they did not have the approval of
the colonizer, but have the masses support. Fanon considered the workers as a
crucial element to the function of colonialism, but in South Africa the chiefs were
the important elements necessary to facilitate the colonial control.
These chiefs and the traditional leadership played a crucial role in managing the
masses. “It has been estimated that there are approximately 800 ruling traditional
leaders in South Africa, and that these chiefs are supported by an additional 10000
subordinate leaders. In all, this collection of leaders has jurisdiction over some18
million rural39 people (or 40% of the total national population). It is also important
to note that traditional authorities are the only form of rural local government that
the vast majority of African people in South Africa have ever experienced.
(Tapscott, p292)
The reserves were managed by chiefs that were appointed by the colonizer and
not by the people, so the traditional role of the chiefs was disrupted by the policies
imposed by the colonizer.40 These chiefs used to have administrators and council
that were chosen by them. The chiefs were given power inside the reserves, but on
the other hand their legitimacy and approval were reduced by the masses, as they
cooperated with the colonizer. This power was structured through their authority
to determine and approved the possessions of the lands inside the reserves.
39
The author dealt with “the reserves” as rural areas.
40
However, the use of the chiefs for the colonial interests began in the 19th century as the
British aimed to control the colony, but during the apartheid era it increased as the
government divided the regions, each is controlled by the assigned chiefs.
These chiefs were free to do anything and were not exposed to accountability and
checks and so they had opportunities for corruption and fraud. However, they
used to take their salaries from the government, which were inadequate salaries.
In order to protect the level of their living, they used to misuse their power. They
were given the whole legislative, administrative and judicial mandates. They
misused the power as they aimed to strengthen their financial and social position
through taking briberies. This power was also given to people who are not even
professional or qualified to manage or administer the reserves.
Yet still in South Africa, some chiefs function positively and usually manage the
issues of the people, and the chiefs in the reserves were not chiefs in the
traditional meaning, they were people who were appointed by the colonizer as the
following points suggest: 41 First, Apartheid in the end created a bad image of the
chiefs and the traditional leaders so the pattern of the Bantustans aimed to create
the trend of tribalism and a bad image about it. Second each reserve was managed
by chiefs that cooperated with the colonizer and so enhanced control of the
Bantustans. Third the political parties weakened as the colonizer stimulated
tribalism, and so weakening Nationalism and the ANC.
One obvious tribal trend was clearly structured in the in the KwaZulu homeland.
The Inkatha is a cultural movement founded in 1979 aimed to ensure the Zulu
Nationalism. It is considered the largest “ethnic group”. However, it emerged after
the establishment of the Apartheid. It is the result of the affection towards the
colonizer. This is obvious as it imitated the colonizer. First they created myths and
used history so as to strengthen their nationalism distinguishing the Zulu people.
They aimed to determine and direct all of its activities to the Zulu people only,
like the behavior of the white.
Fanon describes the phases of violence that the colonized build an imagined world
in which the colonizer does not exist. The Zulu was the result of its involvement
in this phase. The funds obtained from the colonizer developed this phase,
41
These information regarding the role of the chiefs are taken from an article written by Tapscott
resulting in affection and admiration of colonizer to an extent that it want to be

like it.
After 1990 it converted itself to a political party “ The Inkatha Freedom Party”
and its main enemy was the ANC, especially that most of the ANC’s members are
from the Xhosa tribe. It called for federalism. This is in line with what Fanon
describes as the tribal division which reaches an extent that at the end they call
and aim for “Federalism”. The Inkatha’s Chief is Mangosuthu Buthelezi. The
residents in the homeland (regions) should be from the Inkatha members, otherwise, the
individual will be deprived of his rights. The Zulus are about 7 million. (Ottaway, p19)
Leadership:
The leadership was outside and it marginalized the internal and strengthened the
external. When the rebellion occurred in 1984, it concentrated on the internal and
attracted the outsiders. They became the negotiators and sought to manage the
posts of the nation. They are considered those who form part of the bourgeoisie
class that emerged after post-Apartheid. They were so much affected by the
international concepts and were distant from the suffering of the masses.
Masses:
The masses are those laborers and the poor who were exposed to the racist system
of the government, and on the other hand those who were humiliated by the
blacks “ black police” and the chiefs that were assigned to manage the reserves,
and those bourgeois whose main target was to sustain and protect their financial
power. The leadership which remained outside betrayed its role as it had forgotten
the weak masses. As Fanon says: “After a day spent in demonstrating for their
demands, the leaders celebrate the victory, whereas the rank- and-file have a
strong suspicion that they have been cheated”.(Fanon 1963, p87)
In the 1990, the situation was mature: the Inkatha was formed and was
strengthening itself and there was harmony between it and the colonizer. The
leadership in the outside was at a stage capable to be the negotiator as it became
distant from the masses. The violence within the homelands increased and its
backwardness increased as the colonizer tried to negate the colonized completely.

Also, it aimed to destroy the family unit in the society through the labor system.
In the international context, Apartheid South Africa became unacceptable within
the international community, Soviet Union collapsed, the world trended towards
globalization and liberalism. Locally, the masses matured and could no longer
accept the situation and they erupted in violence.
Hence, the conflict may be structured as follows: between the Inkatha and the
Xhosa, between those who lived in the townships and those who lived in the
Bantustans , between the ANC and the Inkatha as political parties, between the
poor and the rich , between the regions: each in his own “ reserve” as each
developed unevenly, between the leadership –those who were outside and those
who remained and struggle in South Africa, the bourgeoisie class and the masses.
All these disputes can be transferred from one form to the other because at the end
it is very weak and penetrated body.
After 1992 a lot of political parties appeared some were old and others were new.
But the three main political parties were: The National Part (NP), the ANC, and
the InKatha. In 1994, a free election occurred in which the ANC won the election,
and Nelson Mandella became the president. This period was considered a
transitional period. ”The ANC having received 63%5 of the vote in 1994
election, preside over a Cabinet that includes the National Party (NP) 20 % led by
Deputy President De Klerk and the Inkatha Freedom Party 10.5%, led by former
KwaZulu homeland leader Mangosuthu Butheizi” (Lyman 1996, p106). They
formed the Government of National Unity (GNU).
The colonizer and the colonized negotiated so as to reach to a solution. South

Africa was divided into nine provinces whereas before it was four provinces.
However the new constitution assured the protection every civil servant job and
also the protection of the white economics power. It moved toward democracy
and Neo-liberalism. Also the white aimed to protect its economic power.
As Fanon says: “ It must be explained to the rebel that he must on no account be

blindfolded by the enemy concession… concession are the cloak for a tighter
Concessions is less blatant but much more complete r rein….” (Fanon, p113)
Post-Apartheid - Results:
1. Globalization and Huge market:
The colonies have become a market (Fanon 1963, p51)
After post-apartheid South Africa became a huge market, as the external

investment increased. Also it was going toward “ privatization”.
The globalist interpretation of the African Renaissance42 has been

enthusiastically embraced by monied elites in South Africa who
understand modernization in terms of the generalization of wealth, and
who look towards a world in which trade and global competitiveness are
as important as the political dimensions of diplomacy, as one Africa
banker has put it. South Africa’s direct investment in Africa was
approximately 3.7 R billion before 1994 election, and increased at about
13 R billion thereafter, while trading during 1994-5 has increased by 52.6
% to 16.771 billion.43 (Vale and Maseko, 1988, p279)
The wealth became within the control of few international corporations, its wealth
is more than the government’s wealth. “A large part of the formal private sector is
in the hands of six or seven conglomerates, while the government itself owns
more than 100 corporations, and the government has been reluctant to provide
special incentives to foreign investors” (Lyman 1996, p113). As this market
widened the more the gap between the poor and the rich increased. The poor
42
Thabo Mbeki, Nelson Mandela’s chosen successor, talked in one of his speeches about the
“ African renaissance”. That they aim and work for that renaissance. It is not clear what is his
concept of “renaissance”: is it modernization and liberalism, or it a cultural renaissance, but it
seems he meant renaissance from an international, which means modernization.
43
Quoted in Gail leftwich, An African Renaissance, South Africa: The Journal of Trade,
Industry and Investment, Summer 1997, p.7.
became alienated from the state system as they became unable to cope with the
new economic system, and that resulted in social problems, especially as
unemployment increased. Some people have been deprived from the use of
electricity and water because they are unable to pay the fees.
“According to South African government statistics, the average black household

has become 15% poorer since 1994, whilst the average white household has seen
their wealth grow by a staggering 19%. The poorest 50% of South Africans have
seen their income drop by up to 20%, and black South Africans have lost nearly
two million jobs over the same period.” (Conventry 2003, p 2)
However, the change in the economy increased poverty among the black
community, and on the other hand the rich became richer. Two obvious trends
appear the poor and the rich.
Fanon argues that the 95% of the masses observe no change in the post-colonial
era. This is exactly happened, and even the blacks were not given land to posses
and it remained under the control of the white.
2. Increase and the development violence:
The violence was directed internally. The political violence decreased whereas the
social violence increased obviously, that it became a national horror. Violence
developed on an extent that it became organized and on the other hand it created
the gangs and the Mafia.
Much of the crime is organized, and it is increasingly linked to drug

trafficking South Africa under sanctions was isolated from not only
legitimate commerce but also much of the international narcotics trade.
With an explosion of airline connections and a police force inadequate to
the task, drug syndicates- the police estimates their number at nearly 200-
have moved in with a vengeance. Youth gangs, particularly in the Western
Cape are financed by drug sales and are becoming more violent. Crack
cocaine has arrived in South Africa, along with heroin, speed and many
other drugs (Lyman 1996, p114)
The Crime Information analysis system Center – South African Police Service, in
its report shows the Crime and the types of violence in South Africa from 1995
until 2004. The table shows that the crime of “ Drug related crime’ increased by
27% , common robbery increased by 65%, the illegal possession of firearms and
ammunition increased by 35%. However, the increase in the use of drugs,
alcohols and weapons is an indicator of “self destructive”. 44
Here I will highlight three kinds of violence: i) Tribal violence, ii) Taxi wars, iii)
Gangs and Mafia. Of course there are other kinds of violence but they are the
most important as they formed a formal and organized “ groups”.
i. Tribal conflict:
Tribalism did not end. That appears clearly after post-Apartheid, however there
was a lot of violence especially between the Inkatha and the ANC, conflict
between the Zulu and the Xhosa. (most of the ANC members are from the Xhosa
tribe).
The one major political issue unresolved by the election was the fierce rivalry
within the province of KZN (KwaZulu Natal). It is the one province where
political violence persists at a very high level. More than 3000 people were
killed in 1995, though some estimate that less than a third of the murders were
“purely political”. The rivalry pits the ANC against Buthelezi’s Inkatha
Freedom Party. (Lyman, p115)
ii. Taxi wars:

It expresses the wars and conflicts between the taxes in South Africa which is
characterized by a lot of violence. This kind of violence appeared after 1987 and
after 1990 it developed to an extent that so violent and criminal and
decentralization character. These wars caused a lot of damage to the possessions;
44
See Table1 in the Annex
in addition many people were killed and injured. The root of this war is the result
of the conflict between the “ urban “ – those who lived in the township and the
traditional “ the rural” and it developed until it became a phenomena. These taxi
wars formed a formal structure that was parallel to the state as they refused the
orders of the state. This shows how the relation between the masses and the state
characterized of mistrust and as if they are two opposite trends. This mistrust is
the result of the corruptions of the institution, which failed to impose the rules,
especially that some of the taxis were possessed by the police and the
governmental officials. 45
iii) Organized crime- Gangs and Mafia:46
A syndicate crime is defined as “a well organized and structured group with a

clear leadership corps, which is involved in different criminal activities such as
drug trafficking, vehicle theft or money laundering. Such syndicates have well
established contacts with national and international criminal organizations, cartels
or mafia groupings”47 (Shaw1998, p1). Mark Shaws explains that there are
common characters in the organized crime syndicate, which are the hierarchy of
control, sophisticated procedures to lauder money obtained by means of illegal
activities and the use of weapons. Before apartheid this problem did not exist, it
appeared in the post-apartheid era.
However, some of these syndicates were developed and expand internationally,

especially after post-Apartheid when the restrictions between the borders
decreased. The syndicate usually is specialized: some in drug trafficking, some
theft, and weapons. South Africa is considered one of the main sources of illegal
firearms, also it is considered as a major transshipment for narcotics, because of
its strategic location however some work internationally, some work within the
Sub-Sahran Africa and others work domestically.48 (See the table 2). The gangs
45
See Jackie Dugard
46
These information is taken from the article written by Marks Shaw
47
Quoted in “SAPS Organized Crime Unit. Anti Organized Crime Measure, August 1997.
48
See table 2 in the Annex
may often be employed by syndicates to do the dirty work at street level on the
domestic level.
Organized crime is related to the poverty regions, and that field of work
(organized crime) produce high rewards. Many of the police are involved in this
organized crime, for example 25% of the police in the Johannesburg area was
being investigated for a criminal offence in 1996. This shows how much the
society in a chaos and confused status.
The organized crime groups that work on an international level are: “ The
Nigerian organized crime groups”, the Russian Mafia, and the Chinese Triads.
And there are more, there are 500 organized crime groups that work
internationally in the sub-Saharan Africa. In South Africa there are 192 organized
crime syndicates, 32 work internationally and the remainder work within the Sub-
Saharan Africa.
However, the spread of violence after the reconciliation with the colonizer shows
how dualism appeared in a new form. The posts of the institutions were taken by
the part of the political party and the bourgeoisie, the value system corrupted as
they aimed to live high-level standard of living, and imitating the European life
style, and working to take the approval of the colonizer. Also the police was
directed for servicing them. On the other hand, the value system collapses within
the masses as they became unable to cope with the new system and were
suppressed. It was directed toward self-destruction and it organizes itself and
became parallel to the formal structure of the state. However, dualism is
transferred to the internal structure of the colonized and that it was formed in a
way to destruct itself by itself, and the colonizer continued to protect its economic
power and to direct violence against the colonized.
3. Corruption of the institutions:
The extent of violence and corruption between the masses is an indicator to the
corruption of the official institutions. There are some (a small portion) of the
political party, which were transferred into the bourgeoisie class and aimed to
posses the posts, which means possessing the nation. They did not aim to rebuild
the state. They dealt with the situation as if it is a European nation.
[M]any believe that the real beneficiaries of liberation have so far been the
ANC leaders who have received high-paying government jobs and
perquisites and a few black businesspeople who have become very rich from
highly publicized acts of “black empowerment” in the private sector” (Lyman
1996, p111)
Conclusion:
The apartheid system ended, but its elimination was not a result of the struggle of
the blacks but the result of Apartheid’s weakness. The end of Apartheid put the
blacks into a new phase: they became so much involved in their social
consciousness within the circle of globalization at the expense of their original
culture, so they did not emancipate according to Fanon’s concept of emancipation.
They entered the “social phase” as a result of a vacuum and not as a result of
building a society; they overcome the first stage of the “nationalism stage”. That
put them into a state of confusion and created the circumstances for the creation of
a penetrated elite. They went in another phase deprived from their true history.
They coped with the reality – they did not create a reality. This compromise put
them in a more comprehensive colonialism. It ended in the collapse of the value
system of the emerged Bourgeoisie class as it aimed to posses the posts. The
masses trended toward self–destruction as they increased in size to cope with the
increased unequal system. The blacks forgot the white as an enemy and they
became exploited internationally as South Africa became more involved in
Globalization; it adopted the new concepts of renaissance, development and
modernization. They aimed to build a new identity within the approval of Europe:
“Africanist believe that identity is still in the making. There isn’t a final identity
that is African. But at the same time, there is an identity coming into existence.
And it has a certain context and certain meaning”. (Vale and Maseko1988, p280)
Most of the masses remained poor and the new phase did not improve but rather
deteriorated the situation further. The ANC started to lose its credibility as it
became unable to solve the contradictions that exist within the society. According
to Fanon notes that while a “[n]ation may well have a reasonable, even
progressive, head to it; its body will remain weak, stubborn and non-co-
operative”. (Fanon 1963, p95)
------------------------------
Conclusion 235
Conclusion
This work aimed to study in-depth the concept of dualism from a socio-political
perspective. Fanon showed us the depth of colonialism, and how much the Third
World is weakened by it, and he called for embarkation upon the experience
necessary for gaining strength.
The concept of Dualism is derived from Frantz Fanon’s writings. It is a theoretical

construct that may be applied to a variety of third world nations such as Egypt,
Palestine, Jordan, and also the Latin America nations, particularly those which went
through a long colonial occupation, as was the case of South Africa.
The nation will not be conscious of itself except through experience, a revolutionary
one intended to uproot that deep involvement of Europe in the Third World, the
experience which makes it go in to a dialectic process as a nation with all its
economic, political, and cultural feature in order to create a new nation, which means
a new man.
However, Fanon’s philosophy shows that there are phases and steps in this, and each
phase shows new things and a new vision toward the next step; one cannot plan what
will happen in each phase.
The relationship between the Third World and Europe is most intense and close,
although contradictory. As the intensity of this relationship increased--and this is
obvious in the neo-colonialism phase—it became clearer that the relation between
them would not be between one nation and another, but rather between the Third
World and Europe as a whole, especially regarding the strength and the effect of
Europe’s concepts.
Fanon’s philosophy is readily applicable to South Africa, especially to the philosophy

and the behavior of the political party; this shows his in-depth insight into the
vulnerability of the nation. Actually, it is worthwhile to study the consciousness of the
political party through studying its political discourse, which reflects its behavior.
Conclusion 236
As the intensity of dualism increases, circumstances become more chaotic, unstable,

and blurred. However even dualism may be in a stagnated phase; but this phase will
not be forever, as every thing changes over time.
Fanon called for the emancipation of mentalities. This consciousness is started by the
destruction of fear, which leads in turn to the destruction of barriers. They will be
destroyed as the Third World finds new concepts of its own, new concepts toward a
new humanity.
As long as the Third World adopts the concepts of Europe in a blind way, it will be
encircled by Europe. We should not surrender to these concepts; we must try to find
new concepts and to redefine the terminologies. This is for the benefit of Europe, the
Third World and whole of humanity--for the wretched of the Earth.
As Fanon ends his book,
“ For Europe, for ourselves and for humanity, comrades, we must turn over a new
leaf, we must work out new concepts, and try to set aloof a new man.” (Fanon
1963, p255)
---------------------------------
Frantz Fanon (1925-1961)
This schedulable is taken from : Shaw Mark 1998. Organized Crime in Post-
Apartheid South Africa. Institute for Security Studies.
http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/PAPERS/28/Paper28.html
This schedulable is taken from : Shaw Mark 1998. Organized Crime in Post-
Apartheid South Africa. Institute for Security Studies.
South Africa
Introduction South Africa
Background:
After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many
of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own
republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886)
spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation of
the native inhabitants. The Boers resisted British encroachments,
but were defeated in the Boer War (1899-1902). The resulting
Union of South Africa operated under a policy of apartheid - the
separate development of the races. The 1990s brought an end to
apartheid politically and ushered in black majority rule.
Geography South Africa Top of Page
Location:
Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa
Geographic
coordinates: 29 00 S, 24 00 E
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 1,219,912 sq km
land: 1,219,912 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes Prince Edward Islands (Marion Island and Prince
Edward Island)
Area -
comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Land
boundaries: total: 4,862 km
border countries: Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km,
Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 967 km, Swaziland 430 km,
Zimbabwe 225 km
Coastline:
2,798 km
Maritime
claims: territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to edge of the continental margin
Climate:
mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool
nights
Terrain:
vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal
plain
Elevation
extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Njesuthi 3,408 m
Natural
resources: gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel,
phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper,
vanadium, salt, natural gas
Land use:
arable land: 12.08%
permanent crops: 0.79%
other: 87.13% (2001)
Irrigated land:
13,500 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural
hazards: prolonged droughts
Environment -
current issues: lack of important arterial rivers or lakes requires extensive water
conservation and control measures; growth in water usage
outpacing supply; pollution of rivers from agricultural runoff and
urban discharge; air pollution resulting in acid rain; soil erosion;
desertification
Environment -
international party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine
agreements: Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography -
note: South Africa completely surrounds Lesotho and almost completely
surrounds Swaziland
People South Africa
Population:
44,344,136
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life
expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower
population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 30.3% (male 6,760,137/female 6,682,013)
15-64 years: 64.5% (male 13,860,727/female 14,750,496)
65 years and over: 5.2% (male 893,360/female 1,397,403) (2005
est.)
Median age:
total: 23.98 years
male: 23.12 years
female: 24.86 years (2005 est.)
Population
growth rate: -0.31% (2005 est.)
Birth rate:
18.48 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate:
21.32 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration
rate: -0.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.64 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality
rate: total: 61.81 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 65.6 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 57.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy
at birth: total population: 43.27 years
male: 43.47 years
female: 43.06 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility
rate: 2.24 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult
prevalence rate: 21.5% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS -
people living 5.3 million (2003 est.)
with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS -
deaths: 370,000 (2003 est.)
Nationality:
noun: South African(s)
adjective: South African
Ethnic groups:
black African 79%, white 9.6%, colored 8.9%, Indian/Asian 2.5%
(2001 census)
Religions:
Zion Christian 11.1%, Pentecostal/Charismatic 8.2%, Catholic
7.1%, Methodist 6.8%, Dutch Reformed 6.7%, Anglican 3.8%,
other Christian 36%, Islam 1.5%, other 2.3%, unspecified 1.4%,
none 15.1% (2001 census)
Languages:
IsiZulu 23.8%, IsiXhosa 17.6%, Afrikaans 13.3%, Sepedi 9.4%,
English 8.2%, Setswana 8.2%, Sesotho 7.9%, Xitsonga 4.4%, other
7.2% (2001 census)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.4%
male: 87%
female: 85.7% (2003 est.)
Government South Africa

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of South Africa
conventional short form: South Africa
former: Union of South Africa
abbreviation: RSA
Government
type: republic
Capital:
Pretoria; note - Cape Town is the legislative center and
Bloemfontein the judicial center
Administrative
divisions: 9 provinces; Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal,
Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-West, Northern Cape, Western Cape
Independence:
31 May 1910 (from UK); note - South Africa became a republic in
1961 following an October 1960 referendum
National
holiday: Freedom Day, 27 April (1994)
Constitution:
10 December 1996; this new constitution was certified by the
Constitutional Court on 4 December 1996, was signed by then
President MANDELA on 10 December 1996, and entered into
effect on 3 February 1997; it is being implemented in phases
Legal system:
based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law; accepts
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive
branch: chief of state: President Thabo MBEKI (since 16 June 1999);
Executive Deputy President Phumzile MLAMBO-NGCUKA (since
23 June 2005); note - the president is both the chief of state and
head of government
head of government: President Thabo MBEKI (since 16 June 1999);
Executive Deputy President Phumzile MLAMBO-NGCUKA (since
23 June 2005); note - the president is both the chief of state and
head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-
year term; election last held 24 April 2004 (next to be held April
2009)
election results: Thabo MBEKI elected president; percent of
National Assembly vote - 100% (by acclamation)
note: ANC-IFP is the governing coalition
Legislative
branch: bicameral Parliament consisting of the National Assembly (400
seats; members are elected by popular vote under a system of
proportional representation to serve five-year terms) and the
National Council of Provinces (90 seats, 10 members elected by
each of the nine provincial legislatures for five-year terms; has
special powers to protect regional interests, including the
safeguarding of cultural and linguistic traditions among ethnic
minorities); note - following the implementation of the new
constitution on 3 February 1997 the former Senate was disbanded
and replaced by the National Council of Provinces with essentially
no change in membership and party affiliations, although the new
institution's responsibilities have been changed somewhat by the
new constitution
elections: National Assembly and National Council of Provinces -
last held 14 April 2004 (next to be held NA 2009)
election results: National Assembly - percent of vote by party -
ANC 69.7%, DA 12.4%, IFP 7%, UDM 2.3%, NNP 1.7%, ACDP
1.6%, other 5.3%; seats by party - ANC 279, DA 50, IFP 28, UDM
9, NNP 7, ACDP 6, other 21; National Council of Provinces -
percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA
Judicial branch:
Constitutional Court; Supreme Court of Appeals; High Courts;
Magistrate Courts
Political parties
and leaders: African Christian Democratic Party or ACDP [Kenneth MESHOE,
president]; African National Congress or ANC [Thabo MBEKI,
president]; Democratic Alliance or DA (formed from the merger of
the Democratic Party or DP and the Freedom Alliance or FA)
[Anthony LEON]; Inkatha Freedom Party or IFP [Mangosuthu
BUTHELEZI, president]; Pan-Africanist Congress or PAC [Stanley
MOGOBA, president]; United Democratic Movement or UDM
[Bantu HOLOMISA]
Political
pressure Congress of South African Trade Unions or COSATU [Zwelinzima
groups and VAVI, general secretary]; South African Communist Party or
leaders:
SACP [Blade NZIMANDE, general secretary]; South African
National Civics Organization or SANCO [Mlungisi
HLONGWANE, national president]; note - COSATU and SACP
are in a formal alliance with the ANC
International
organization ACP, AfDB, AU, BIS, C, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
participation: ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO,
IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NAM,
NSG, ONUB, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UPU,
WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic
representation chief of mission: Ambassador Barbara Joyce Mosima MASEKELA
in the US: chancery: 3051 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20008
telephone: [1] (202) 232-4400
FAX: [1] (202) 265-1607
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York
Diplomatic
representation chief of mission: Ambassador Jendayi E. FRAZER
from the US: embassy: 877 Pretorius Street, Pretoria
mailing address: P. O. Box 9536, Pretoria 0001
telephone: [27] (12) 342-1048
FAX: [27] (12) 342-2244
consulate(s) general: Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg
Flag
description: two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated by
a central green band which splits into a horizontal Y, the arms of
which end at the corners of the hoist side; the Y embraces a black
isosceles triangle from which the arms are separated by narrow
yellow bands; the red and blue bands are separated from the green
band and its arms by narrow white stripes
Taken from:
South Africa, The World Fact Book
Retrieved in 26/3/2006. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/sf.html
237
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----------------------------------------------
:‫اﻟﻤﺮاﺟﻊ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ‬
.‫ اﻓﺮﯾﻘﯿﺔ – اﻟﻌﺮﺑﯿﺔ‬. ‫ ﻣﺸﺎﻛﻞ اﻻﻧﺘﻘﺎل إﻟﻰ اﻟﺪﯾﻤﻘﺮاﻃﯿﺔ‬:‫ اﻟﻌﻨﻒ واﻟﺤﻮار‬.2000 ‫ ﺑﻮﻻن‬، ‫ ھﻮﻧﺘﻮﻧﺪﺟﻲ‬
.(3) ‫ ﻣﺠﻠﺪ‬،‫ﺗﺮﺟﻤﺔ ﺳﺎﺗﻲ ﺳﺮﺑﺎﻧﺔ ﺣﺒﯿﺐ‬
.‫ دار اﻟﻔﻜﺮ‬:‫ ﻋﻤﺎن‬.‫ ﺗﺎرﯾﺦ أﻓﺮﯾﻘﯿﺎ اﻟﺤﺪﯾﺚ واﻟﻤﻌﺎﺻﺮ‬. 2002 ‫ ﻋﺒﺎس ﺟﻌﻔﺮ‬،‫ ﺣﻤﯿﺪي‬
‫ ﻣﻨﺸﻮرات‬:‫ دﻣﺸﻖ‬. ‫ ﺗﺮﺟﻤﺔ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﺷﻠﺐ اﻟﺸﺎم‬. ‫ ﺗﺎرﯾﺦ أﻓﺮﯾﻘﯿﺎ اﻟﺴﻮداء‬.1994 ‫ ﻛﻲ‬،‫ ﺟﻮزﯾﻒ‬،‫ زﯾﺮﺑﻮ‬
.‫وزارة اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﺔ‬
‫ ﺷﻮﻗﻲ ﻋﻄﺎ اﷲ‬.‫ ﺗﺮﺟﻤﺔ ﻋﻠﻲ أﺣﻤﺪ ﻓﺨﺮي و د‬.‫ ﺟﻨﻮب اﻟﺼﺤﺮاء‬:‫ ﺗﺎرﯾﺦ إﻓﺮﯾﻘﯿﺎ‬. 1962 ‫ دوﻧﺎﻟﺪ‬، ‫ واﯾﺪﻧﺮ‬
.‫ ﻣﺆﺳﺴﺔ ﺳﺠﻞ اﻟﻌﺮب‬: ‫ اﻟﻘﺎھﺮة‬، ‫اﻟﺠﻤﻞ‬
.437 ‫ ع‬،‫ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻲ‬."‫ ھﻞ ﺗﺨﻀﺮ اﻷرض اﻟﺤﻤﺮاء؟‬:‫ " ﺟﻨﻮب أﻓﺮﯾﻘﯿﺎ‬.1994 ‫ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ‬،‫ اﻟﺮﻣﯿﺤﻲ‬
‫ اﻟﻤﺠﻠﺲ اﻷﻋﻠﻰ‬. ‫ ﺗﺮﺟﻤﺔ ﺻﺒﺮي ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺣﺴﻦ‬.‫ ﺣﺮﻛﺎت اﻟﺘﺤﺮﯾﺮ اﻹﻓﺮﯾﻘﯿﺔ‬. 2002 ‫ رﯾﺘﺸﺎرد‬،‫ ﺟﯿﺒﺴﻮن‬
.‫ﻟﻠﺜﻘﺎﻓﺔ‬
‫ اﻷھﻠﯿﺔ ﻟﻠﻨﺸﺮ واﻟﺘﻮزﯾﻊ‬:‫ ﻋﻤﺎن‬.‫ ﺗﺮﺟﻤﺔ ﻓﺆاد ﺳﺮوﺟﻲ‬.‫ ﻣﺮاﻗﺒﺔ اﻟﺮﯾﺢ‬. 2004 ‫ ﺳﻮزان ﻛﻮﻟﻦ‬،‫ ﻣﺎرﻛﺲ‬
Selected References
Books by Fanon:
244
Fanon, Frantz 1967. Black skin, white Masks. Chales Lam Markmann, Trans.. New
York: Grove Press.
Fanon, F. 1963. The Wretched of the Earth. Constance Farrington, Trans.. New York:
Grove Press.
Fanon, F 196 a . A Dying Colonialism. Haakon Chevalier, Trans. New York: Grove
Press.
Fanon, F. 1967b. Toward the African Revolution. Haakon Chevalier,Trans. New
York: Grove Press
Writings on Fanon:
Alessandrini, Anthony.1999: Frantz Fanon: Critical Perspectives. U.S.A,

Routledge.
Bray, Nursey-Paul.1978 Race and Nation: Ideology in the Thought of Frantz
Fanon. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 18(1), 135-142.
Bulhan, Hussein Abdilahi 1985. Frantz Fanon and the Psychology of
Oppression. U.S.A: Plenum Press.
Caute, David (1970). Frantz Fanon. New York: Viking Press.
Geismar, Peter (1969). Fanon the Revolutionary as Prophet. New York: Grove
Press.
Faircheld, Halford 1994. Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of The Earth in
Contemporary Perspective. Journal of Black Studies, 25(2), 191-199.
Forsythe, Dennis 1973. Frantz Fanon: The Marx of the Third World, Phylon,
34(2) 160-170
Gendzier, Irene 1973. Frantz Fanon: A Critical Study. New York: Pantheon.
Gibson, Nigel ed. 1999. Rethinking Fanon. U.S.A, Prometheus Books.
Gordan, Lewis 1995. Fanon and the Crisis of European Man. U.S.A,
Routledge
Hansen, Emmanuel. Frantz Fanon: Social and Political Thought. Ohio State:
Ohio University Press.
Kebede, Messay 2001. The Rehabilitation of Violence and the Violence of
Rehabilitation: Fanon and Colonialism. Journal of Black Studies, 31(5) 539-
562
245
Onwuanibe, Richard 1983. A Critique of Revolutionary Humanism: Frantz

Fanon. U.S.A, Warren Green INC.
Olsen, Marvin 1965. Alienation and Political Opinion. The Public Opinion
Quarterly, 29(2), 200-212.
Overend, Tronn 1975. Alienation: A conceptual Analysis. Philosophy and
Perinbarn, Marie B. 1973. Fanon and the Revolutionary Peasantry- The
Algerian Case. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 11(3), 427-445.
.Sonnleitner, Michae 1987. Of logic and Liberation: Frantz Fanon on
Terrorism. Journal of Black Studies, 17(3), 287-304.
Staniland, Martin (1969). Frantz Fanon and the African Political Class. African
Affairs, 68(270), 4-25.
Tucker, Gerald (1978). Machiavelli and Fanon: Ethics, Violence, and Action.
The Journal of Modern African Studies, 16(3), 397-415.
Wright, Derek 1986. Fanon and Africa: A Retrospect. The Journal of Modern
African Studies, 24(4), 679-689.
Woddis, Jack 1977. New Theories of Revolution. New York: International
Publishers
--------------------------------------
Wiedner, Donald: A History of Africa: South of Sahara, New York, Random House
Inc.

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Frantz Fanon: Dualism and Colonialism

‫ اﻻزدواﺟﯿﺔ واﻻﺳﺘﻌﻤﺎر‬:‫ﻓﺮاﻧﺘﺲ ﻓﺎﻧﻮن‬

Supervisor: Dr. Roger Heacock

Dr. Samir Awad Dr. George Giacaman

This thesis was submitted in partial fulfillment of the

Frantz Fanon: Dualism and Colonialism

Dr. Roger Heacock

Dr. Samir Awad Dr. George Giacaman

“ Oh my body, make of me a man who always questions.”

To The Wretched of the Earth

To those who struggle for change and Freedom

To the Palestinian People

Part 1: Fanon’s Ideas and Concepts

Part2: Fanon and Dualism

Part3: South Africa

Conclusion …………………………………… 235

References …………………………………………. 237

As a socio-political study, this thesis intends to reveal particular aspects of Fanon’s

Frantz Fanon (1925-1961)

Dualism and Alienation

2. Apartheid system (map)

3. Picture (Sowyto and Johannesburg)

4. The Freedom Charter

5. Violence in South Africa

His mentality’s structure was crystallized according to his upbringing, knowledge,

Fanon is considered a revolutionary thinker, as he called for revolution to change the

Frantz Fanon1 - Biographical Sketch 2

The whites’ number was estimated at 1000 in an island with a population

Fanon’s mother was a shopkeeper, “a mild-mannered, heavy-set woman who

An early formative experience for Fanon, though somewhat mitigated by his

Fanon was disturbed by the sailors’ behavior because it contradicted what he

The French Army:

(Geismar1969, p52). He was always involved in debates, or going to left-wing

The importance of Fanon’s work stems from the following:

 He opened the way to the psycho-cultural aspects of colonialism and the

Fanon’s experience was accompanied by the influence of certain intellectuals

Pithouse comments, “The power of his work resides in its eclecticism.

The Wretched of The Earth:

A world divided into compartments, a motionless, Manicheistic

Dualism may be defined as the existence of two different (inverse) trends or

contradictory in its behavior, with no self-confidence, unable to make a

Fanon proposed two kinds of dualism:

The colonial context is characterized by the dichotomy, which imposes

If dualism were exposed to good financial conditions and the possession of

Fanon categorizes the comprehensive emancipation phases as two-fold:

1. The Nationalism phase: Fanon believes that this phase should be

1. The reality that the colonizer imposed:

Fanon defines Decolonialism as:

…quite simply the replacing of a certain species of men by

Because it is a systematic negation of the other person and a

The negation of the Other is attained through achieving the following:

“The poverty of the people, national oppression and the inhibition of

1. The inhibition of culture: The aim of this is to make the colonized

Europe created an internal divided world within the colony:

Divided geographically: we observe that the geography of the colony is divided

Fanon says, “ The colony’s economy is not integrated into that of

colonies the economic substructure is also a superstructure. The

The missionary society:

2. How should emancipation be attained?

Emancipation means being free of all kinds of colonialism, whether military

Emancipation is achieved on three levels: 1) emancipation from the

1. Disengagement from the West